In just over a week, special agents of the Paraguayan National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD, in Spanish) dealt two harsh blows to narcotrafficking.
On February 27, during a raid in a rural area of Colonia Piray, Amambay department, SENAD agents found a mega marijuana processing lab. “We found a very well-appointed structure. It’s a laboratory for marijuana, but for a variety called ‘skunk,’ which is a more potent marijuana with a much higher concentration of THC [tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component of cannabis],” Prosecutor Celso Morales told the Paraguayan radio station 780 AM.
This marijuana strain also has a much stronger odor than the others and is in high demand in certain Brazilian consumer markets, the Paraguayan newspaper Hoy reported.
According to Morales, there were nearly 1,300 kilograms of chopped marijuana, 675 seedlings in the growing stage, and 600 plants in the harvesting stage, which were in greenhouses. The production center had two germination rooms with lighting and ventilation systems, two greenhouses with a lighting system and drip irrigation technology, and a drying tank, the Paraguayan radio station Ñandutí reported.
“According to intelligence data, a complex system of camps for the production of high-quality drugs operated at the site. The high-potency marijuana was bound for Brazil,” the Paraguayan newspaper Última Hora reported.
Agents also found equipment for hydroponic crops, sieves, hydraulic jacks, and water-soluble fertilizers, the Paraguayan news site 1000 Noticias reported.
Three tons of marijuana
On February 18, uniformed personnel found a warehouse with nearly 3,000 kg of marijuana in a forest area of Colonia Santa Clara, Canindeyú department, near the border with Brazil. The agents carried out the operation together with the Paraguayan Office of the Attorney General’s Specialized Unit for the Fight against Drug Trafficking.
“Part of the shipment was hidden in a pit,” SENAD said in a statement. The rest of the drug was inside a truck that had been abandoned, probably upon noticing the presence of the agents. A video from the anti-drug agency shows the vehicle hidden among the vegetation, filled with marijuana packages in the trunk and on the seats.
“The marijuana was distributed in 2,893 bricks, which were in turn compressed into several packages,” Última Hora reported. “The agents proceeded to dig with shovels to extract the drug from its hiding place,” the newspaper added.
