Brazil’s relationship with cocaine is famous.

Only the United States consumes more of the illicit drug, which is found at its cheapest in Brazil.

You can even buy it without leaving your car in some Brazilian cities.

But with the nation’s image taking an absolute battering ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games, it appears that even drug dealers are concerned.

Some of the brazen operators have started to emblazon packages of the drug with warning messages.

The incredible photo below, which shows a packet of cocaine, includes a message that reads: “Not for use near children.”

The package is also noticeable for the fact that the Olympic rings – and the Games’ official 2016 logo – are used to help sell the illegal product.

The packaging being used by criminals. Photo: Rio de Janeiro Police

The above photo comes from a recent drug bust in the Lapa bar district of Rio de Janeiro.

According to a Bloomberg report, it is not the only Olympic-themed drug packaging doing the rounds in Brazil.

Similar cocaine packages have allegedly been spotted featuring an altered Coca-Cola logo.

The stream of bad publicity

While the Russian doping crisis has brought the integrity of sport’s biggest event under question, Brazil’s many problems are being highlighted by the microscope that hosting the Olympics comes with.

The Zika virus and its lingering threat have put many star athletes – and tourists – off from attending the Olympic Games.

Of the 50 most dangerous cities in the world, 21 are in Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro will never be the safest place to visit and in the first four months of this year, there were 2037 killings in the city.

A bodyguard of the Mayor was recently killed. Photo: Getty

The bodyguard of Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes was recently gunned down in an attempted mugging, while drug baron Nicolas Labre Pereira was sprung from a hospital in a shootout that left a patient dead.

Only this week, New Zealand jiujitsu champion Jason Lee was kidnapped and robbed by police in Rio de Janeiro, while Australian Paralympian Liesl Tesch was robbed at gunpoint in the same city last month.

Then there’s the state of the Olympic Village, slammed by the likes of Australia, Argentina and Belarus.

The Belarus Olympic Committee have released the following photos of their accommodation.

The bad news just won’t stop.

The legal issue

It is unlikely that the cocaine dealers sought out the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for permission to use the Olympic rings or logo on their illegal products.

Those companies who don’t sponsor the IOC or national Olympic committees are not permitted to use the world ‘Olympics’ or related logos and catchphrases for commercial purposes.

Use of the Olympic rings or logo is strictly controlled. Photo: Getty

The dilemma has already hit the headlines in the United States, with the US Olympic Committee [USOC] particularly worried about social media.

In a letter obtained by ESPN, USOC chief marketing officer Lisa Baird wrote: “Commercial entities may not post about the Trials or the Games on their corporate social media accounts.

“This restriction includes the USOC’s trademarks in hashtags such as #Rio2016 or #TeamUSA.”

Ms Baird went on to say: “A company that sells a sports drink certainly can’t post something from the Games on their social media page or website.

“They’re doing nothing but using the Olympics to sell their drink.

“That’s entirely different from what say, ESPN is doing, which is clearly defined as journalism.”

As a result, you can expect plenty of vague posts on social media from companies, like this effort from clothing wear company Under Armour after American swimming star Michael Phelps qualified for the 2016 Olympics.