The Amazonas Police Department for Repression of Organised Crime seized almost 4 tonnes of drugs in operations last week. This corresponds to more than half of all seizures in the sector in 2023. The most recent seizure took place on a boat that left the municipality of Japurá and was intercepted near the city of Coari, in the interior of the state. The final destination was Manacapuru, in the metropolitan region of Manaus. They found 850 kilos of cannabis and cocaine hidden in the hold of the boat. In the same week, the Amazonas police seized 2,800 kilos of drugs at a site located on the AM-010 motorway between the towns of Rio Preto da Eva and Itacoatiara. The seizures total more than three and a half tonnes of narcotics, which represents more than 50 percent of all the seizures made last year. According to the police, the severe drought made it difficult to transport narcotics down the Amazon's rivers last year. With the flooding at the beginning of this year, the crime has once again been carried out by drug traffickers who take advantage of the weaknesses of the surveillance system on a very long border to transport the drugs all over Brazil. The police also said that heavy weapons are transported by boat along the region's rivers by traffickers to be sent to criminal organisations in Brazil. The Repression Department said that the actions have been intensified to curb these types of crimes, and that this should have repercussions in Amazonas and throughout the country. Five people were arrested in last week's actions, including a Colombian.

Source: Amazon Agency