Man dies in shootout with police at a cannabis plantation in Maranhão

A 47-year-old man from Salgueiro, Pernambuco, died after exchanging fire with Civil Police officers during an operation against cannabis cultivation in the Bacurizinho indigenous land in Grajaú, Maranhão, on the morning of 22 June 2026.^[1][2] Police said the man fired at officers carrying out checks in the Aldeia Cabeça de Boi area; officers returned fire, and he was hit and died at the scene.^[1][2]

After the confrontation, officers found four cannabis plots equipped with automated irrigation and a structure used to grow and process the drug.^[1][2] They seized a hydraulic press, a hydraulic jack, a large quantity of cannabis seeds and a bate-bucha shotgun, which the Civil Police said the man had used in the exchange.^[1][2]

The operation was part of Herba Nefanda III and was coordinated by the 15th Regional Police Station in Barra do Corda, with support from Military Police units, the air tactical centre (CTA) and the Grajaú municipal guard.^[1][2] The material was sent to the police authority, which opened an inquiry to identify other people involved in the cultivation and distribution scheme.^[1][2] Neither report said how many plants were destroyed, and neither named any other suspect.^[1][2]