Brazil: 300 kg marijuana busted on church-owned airplane

Almost 300 kilograms of marijuana was recovered from an aircraft owned by a Brazilian church last week. The single-engine plane was supposed to take off from a private hangar at the Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport in Brazil's Belém, nearly 3,200 km north of Rio de Janeiro.

One person was arrested at the scene after trying to escape.

According to CNN Brasil, the suspect tried to run away after seeing the approaching authorities but did not get too far as the police soon caught hold of him.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

"The drugs took up almost every seat. Apart from the shipment, only the pilot and the passenger could have fit on the plane," the police told the media.

ALSO WATCH |Brazil military patrols northern Amazon border region to curb drugs and weapons trafficking

Footage released by the Brazilian Federal Police shows the drug seizure that took place on Saturday.

An investigation was launched to determine the crime, while the plane and the mobile phone of the detained man were seized.

However, the pilot was not detained because his involvement in the crime could not be proven, reports in the Brazilian media showed.

Earlier in March, in a significant victory for the war on drugs, law enforcement organisations involving Latin America and Europe took down Brazil’s most active drug trafficking group that had inundated Europe with multi-tonne shipments of cocaine.

During the course of the aforementioned investigation, over 17 tonnes of cocaine were seized, with an estimated street value of several billions of euros.

Brazilian cities andCracolândia

Many Brazilian cities in the past have reported combating the onslaught of Cracolândia, the shady marketplaces where drugs are bought and sold.

Sao Paulo hosts the world's oldest and largestopen-air drug markets, moving an estimated $37 million of product each year, according to Washington Post.

Brazil and drug menace

Brazil has become one of the top suppliers of cocaine to Europe, transforming the country’s role in the trans-Atlantic drug trade at a speed that has stunned anti-narcotics authorities.

Long described as a cocaine-consuming nation, a market for theproduct manufactured in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, Brazil in the recent past has turned into a critical launchpad to get it across the ocean to Europe.

Local syndicates in the past hadinfiltrated Brazil’s ports,sending record amounts of coke on container ships bound for Europe, where it fetches premium prices.

Brazilian gangs are now integral players feeding Europe’s cocaine market, valued at more than 9 billion euros ($10.15 billion), as of 2020, according to a Reuters analysis of customs data on cocaine seizures, confidential intelligence reports and research studies on illegal drugs.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.