Brazil’s Federal Highway Police (Polícia Rodoviária Federal, PRF) seized a cargo of marijuana hidden inside two fiberglass boats during a vehicle inspection at a highway police post on the BR-277 in Cascavel, western Paraná.[1][2][3] The stop was on the night of Tuesday 10 November at kilometre 582 of the BR-277.[3] Radar BO reported that officers found 142.8 kilograms of marijuana inside the boats.[3] The two boats were being transported in the enclosed cargo compartment of a box truck, known in Brazil as a caminhão-baú.[1][2] The driver of the transport vehicle was not arrested following the inspection.[1][3] The truck, the seized drug and the driver were taken to the Cascavel Civil Police station so the driver could give explanations.[3] According to the findings of the PRF, the driver was able to demonstrate to the inspecting officers that he had no knowledge of the existence of the drug hidden inside the cargo.[1][4][2]

The vessels had been dispatched from the municipality of Missal, in western Paraná, and were destined for the city of Rio de Janeiro.[5][4][2][3] Inspectors also found an electronic tracker installed on one of the vessels, suspected of being used by traffickers to monitor the cargo’s route in real time.[4] To extract the hidden narcotics from inside the hollow structures, police teams had to await the arrival of specialised cutting tools needed to open the fiberglass vessels.[5][4] Federal Highway Police officers stated that the entire load of marijuana would be weighed only after it had been fully removed from the boats.[5][4]