‘The Equalizer 3’: On-Set Workers Arrested in Reported Cocaine Bust

Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer 3 was reportedly the scene of a real-life crime bust. According to TMZ, some on-set workers from the movie’s catering department were arrested in a cocaine bust. The outlet reports that police in Italy, where the movie is filming, took the men into custody after they allegedly seized the illegal drugs following the death of another individual. 

Italian paramilitary police claim to have discovered 120 grams of cocaine during a Tuesday raid at a hotel on the Amalfi coast, near the location where Washington and Dakota Fanning are filming The Equalizer 3. Police stated that a 55-year-old man who was apparently the head of catering died of a heart attack. When first responders attempted to help him, they discovered his pockets full of cocaine. After investigating, Italian authorities say that they held some other catering personnel on house arrest in their hotel rooms, where they discovered at least one person did have a small amount of cocaine in their possession. TMZ states that a representative for Washington stated that the drug bust will not impact filming.

The Equalizer 3 comes nearly a decade after the first film in the series, The Equalizer (2014), which was a gritty reimagining of a 1980s TV series by the same name. That was followed up by The Equalizer 2 in 2018. All three films have been group efforts between Washington, director Antoine Fuqua, and screenwriter Richard Wenk. There is now a hit CBS TV series rebooting , starring Queen Latifah, but it is not affiliated with the film series.

Washington’s most recent acting role was The Tragedy of Macbeth, a critically acclaimed film written for the screen and directed by Joel Coen. The movie co-starred Frances McDormand, who also produced, alongside Coen and Robert Graf. The Tragedy of Macbeth was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, and Best Actor for Washington.

Fuqua’s most recent film was Infinite, a Paramount+ exclusive film written by Ian Shorr and Todd Stein. It was based on The Reincarnationist Papers, a novel by D. Eric Maikranz. In the film, Mark Wahlberg plays Evan McCauley “a man discovering that his hallucinations are actually visions from past lives.” In addition to the A-lister, Infinite’s packed cast also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange), Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Secret Service), Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner franchise), Rupert Friend (A Simple Favor), Jason Mantzoukas (John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum), Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Game of Thrones), Tom Hughes (A Discovery of Witches), Wallis Day (Krypton), Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger) and Liz Carr (The OA). The Equalizer 3 is set ti open in theaters on Sept. 1, 2023.