Brazilian and Paraguayan security forces removed 673 tons of marijuana from circulation during the joint Operation New Alliance XXVII (Operación Nueva Alianza XXVII), which ended on September 3, 2021. During the 12-day operation, members of the Paraguayan National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD, in Spanish) and the Brazilian Federal Police (PF, in Portuguese) carried out air and land raids in the Paraguayan department of Amambay.
“We dismantled 49 drug camps,” SENAD said in a statement. Agents had support from Paraguay’s Air Force, National Police, and Joint Task Force.
“The goal of the operational action was to significantly disrupt the finances of organized crime, by intercepting large volumes of marijuana and dismantling drug camps,” Agencia de Información Paraguaya (IP) reported. “Cannabis continues to be the main illicit product to gain capitals for large criminal organizations operating in the region,” the agency said.
According to the Paraguayan newspaper La Nación, agents destroyed 218 hectares of marijuana crops, in addition to 19,280 kilograms of processed marijuana. SENAD estimates that New Alliance XXVII caused more than $20 million in losses to narcotrafficking, based on the value of the drug in Paraguay. “In the Brazilian market, the value would be at least three times higher,” La Nación reported.
During the first few days of the operation, agents carried out actions in the towns of Cadete Boquerón, Cerro Kuatia, and Rosalina, in the Capitán Bado area. “During the following days, the interventions took place in María Auxiliadora and Chirigüelo, in Pedro Juan Caballero. All the areas mentioned have extensive concentrations of illicit crop areas,” the IP agency reported.
Nearly 3 tons of marijuana
On September 6, SENAD officers seized 2,894 kg of pressed marijuana in the city of Yasy Cañy, Canindeyú department. “We intercepted a large truck carrying a load of marijuana and a van that was escorting it. There are four people detained,” SENAD indicated. The procedure took place on the road that connects Yasy Cañy with Caaguazú. The criminals had hidden the drug in brick-type packages, wrapped in blue and red plastic. According to SENAD, the shipment was bound for Brazil.
For its part, the PF also seized more than 2 tons of marijuana in two operations in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, bordering Paraguay and Bolivia. The first arrest occurred on September 1, in the city of Sidrolândia. “In total, we seized more than 1.6 tons of marijuana [that was being] transported in a vehicle,” the PF said.
On September 2, agents identified another car carrying packages of marijuana, on a highway near the municipality of Campo Grande. “We took 699 kg of marijuana out of circulation,” the PF said. “We arrested two men and seized the vehicle that was transporting the drugs.”
