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Brazil Police Seize Nearly 50 Tons of Marijuana in Record Rio Haul

Police say the haul deals a major financial blow to Rio gangs.

Overview

  • Brazilian police reported seizing nearly 50 tons of marijuana in Rio de Janeiro in what they called the country’s largest drug bust on record.
  • Officers found about 48 tons on the roof of an abandoned building in Complexo da Maré after a sniffer dog named Hulk led them to a bunker under a water tank.
  • More than 250 officers took roughly five hours to move the cache using several trucks in a multi-hour operation.
  • Alongside the marijuana, police recovered rifles and pistols, reported stolen vehicles, and said a suspected gunman was arrested after a shootout during the raid.
  • Authorities value the drugs at about 50 million reals, a notable figure in a market fed by land smuggling from Paraguay where such large central stockpiles are rare.