Bus hired for São Paulo FC found with 86 kg of marijuana in Cochabamba
Bolivian authorities inspecting a Buses Cosmos coach in Cochabamba before it collected the São Paulo FC squad found about 86 kilos of marijuana hidden inside and seized it on 11 August 2026. The club is not linked to the load, the team travelled on to La Paz, and investigators were still working out who was responsible.
Bolivian police stopped a coach of the company Buses Cosmos, hired to carry the São Paulo FC squad
during its visit to Bolivia for a Copa Sudamericana match against Bolívar, and found about 86 kilos of
marijuana hidden inside it.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]One account gives 86.5 kilograms.[9]Officers of
UMOPAR, the Mobile Police Unit for Rural Areas[3][10][6][7], found four bags of the drug in the coach[2][11][3][4][10][6][7]at the Locotal control post on the road between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.[10][6][8][12]
The news was first published by the Bolivian channel Red Uno.[8][9]Mediotiempo, citing Brazilian
media, dated the inspection to Tuesday 11 August 2026, the day of the match[1][5], while El Comercio,
citing the Brazilian outlet UOL, said the coach was stopped on 9 August, still bearing the team’s
insignia.[11]Other accounts rely on the Brazilian journalist Gabriel Sá.[6][12]
The drivers
The coach regularly ran between Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba and had left Cochabamba for Santa
Cruz, where the squad was staying.[2][13]Its three drivers were detained.[2][11][3][4][10][6][7][8][12]Buses
Cosmos said the police were investigating, that all responsibility lay with the drivers, and that it
had provided another vehicle for the team.[2][11][13][3][10][6][7][8]The authorities were investigating where
the marijuana came from and who was moving it.[1][5]
The São Paulo squad had not used the coach and had no contact with the men detained; it had been taken
from the airport to its hotel on the night of 10 August in another coach of the same company, and
learned of the case from local news.[1][2][3][10][6][8]Mediotiempo said it had no information linking the
club to the load[1][4][5][8], and the team went on to La Paz to prepare for the match.[1][2][13][5]
Photos and video
Bolivian officers guarding packages covered with blue sheeting in front of a bus marked Cosmos while a man stands beside them; published with photographs credited to X: GabrielSA.Photo details
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Source: MediotiempoBlack bus with SPFC shield, men and uniformed officers standing beside packages on wet ground at night.Photo details
América Deportesamericatv.com.peESSao Paulo: Incautaron 86 kilos de marihuana en bus del club brasileño previo a partido ante Bolívar por Copa Sudamericana
Oléole.com.arESEscándalo en Bolivia: incautaron 86 kilos de marihuana en el micro que iba a trasladar al San Pablo
Open questions the AI reported
Only one accessible source, Mediotiempo, was found for this event; it says it relied on Brazilian media reports with no named agency on the record.
No arrest, detainee or suspect was named or counted, so the report cannot describe anyone as held over the load.
The weight is reported as approximately 86 kilos, not an exact laboratory figure, and no value for the marijuana was published.
No agency is named as having carried out the inspection and seizure, and it is unclear whether the inspection followed a tip-off or was a routine check.
The article gives no time of day or exact address for the inspection beyond Cochabamba.
The article reports São Paulo arrived first in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, while the seizure is placed in Cochabamba; the sequence of the bus's movements across the two cities is not explained.
The report's photograph is captioned only as the São Paulo vehicle stopped with marijuana and credited to X: GabrielSA; it shows officers and wrapped packages beside a bus marked Cosmos, but the caption does not state where it was taken.
TyC Sports says Buses Cosmos supplied another vehicle for the delegation but does not say what happened to the seized bus after the inspection.
The submitted article is a sports-page account that relies on UOL and names no Bolivian agency, prosecutor or court step in the case.
The page's only photograph is a file photo of São Paulo and Bolívar players in an earlier match, not the seizure, so no photo of this event was added from it.
DSPORTS does not name the bus company, the agency that carried out the inspection, or any court step, so those details still rest on the existing sources.
The Locotal area on the Cochabamba–Santa Cruz road is the interception point named in this account, but no more precise location or time of day for the check is given.
El Litoral also reports a second coach stopped in the same controls with about 110 kilos of marijuana, for combined totals of about 196 kilos and five detainees across both vehicles; that seizure is not covered by this report.
La Tercera dates the inspection to 11 August, the day of the Bolívar match, while El Comercio, citing UOL, dates the coach's stop to 9 August; the accounts are not treated as separate events.
La Tercera does not name the three detained people, state their role in the bus company, or report any charge, prosecutor or court step in the case.
La Tercera attributes the account to the Brazilian journalist Gabriel Sá and names no Bolivian police, prosecutor or company statement as its direct source.
The article gives no time of day for the inspection at the Locotal check post.
No detainee names, seizing agency, or court outcome beyond detention at the disposal of Bolivian justice were published.
TUDN says the bus was stopped in the vicinity of Cochabamba and does not give the Locotal control post, a date for the stop or the number of people detained.
TUDN attributes nothing to a Bolivian police, prosecutor or bus-company statement and names no agency that carried out the search.
TUDN says the São Paulo squad used a second bus cleared by police for airport-hotel transfers in Santa Cruz de la Sierra before flying to La Paz, while other accounts describe the replacement coach as going back to the airport and the team travelling separately by plane.
América Deportes dates the check only as "this start of the week"; 12 August 2026 is its publication date.
América Deportes does not name the bus company, does not say who the three detainees were, and reports no charge or court step.
América Deportes names no Bolivian agency statement and relies on the Brazilian journalist Gabriel Sá.
Felcn's detector dog Lía alerted on two bags in the parcel store of an interprovincial transport company in southern Cochabamba. Officers found 42 vacuum-sealed packages that tested positive for marijuana. No weight or arrest was reported.
Police and prosecutors in Bermejo seized 42.2 kg of marijuana plus 4 grams of cocaine from a vehicle that tried to evade a checkpoint. Four people were charged, with two in preventive detention and two under house arrest, a split the prosecution has appealed.
Bolivia's anti-drug force FELCN seized 18 packages of marijuana from an international bus luggage compartment at the Terminal Bimodal in Santa Cruz and another 10 packages testing positive for marijuana and cocaine base paste from a vehicle near San Ignacio de Velasco. The force opened investigations into the shipments without releasing their weight or saying whether anyone was detained.
Bolivia's interior minister said the more than 30 suitcases flown from the United States to Viru Viru airport in November 2025 carried altered marijuana intended for the high-priced Brazilian market. A January search of property linked to former judge Hebert Zeballos did not find the suitcases but seized 70 kilograms of marijuana.
