Truck driver held with 2.3 tonnes of marijuana hidden in cassava starch in Guaíra
Federal Highway Police and customs officers found 2,337 kg of marijuana blocks hidden in a cassava-starch load on a truck stopped on BR-163 in Guaíra, Paraná, on 5 November 2026. The driver, who said he collected the drug in Mundo Novo, Mato Grosso do Sul, and was bound for Nova Santa Rita, Rio Grande do Sul, was arrested and taken with the load to the Federal Police in Guaíra.
The Federal Highway Police and the Receita Federal, Brazil’s federal customs and
tax agency, seized2,337 kg of marijuana on Thursday 5 November 2026 in Guaíra,
western Paraná.[1]Officers stopped a truck on BR-163 and the driver told them
he was carrying cassava starch.[1]A search of the load found blocks of
marijuana hidden among the starch.[2]Asked about the trip, the driver told
officers, according to the police, that he had taken on the drug in Mundo Novo,
Mato Grosso do Sul, and was to deliver it in Nova Santa Rita, Rio Grande do Sul.[3]
The driver was arrested and, together with the drug, the truck and the starch
load, taken to the Federal Police station in Guaíra for the legal procedures.[2]The inspection took place in front of the Federal Highway Police post at
the Ponte Ayrton Senna, the bridge between Guaíra and the Paraguayan border,
where the driver gave contradictory information about his load.[2]The Federal
Highway Police, known in Brazil as the PRF, published the seizure the same day
with a total of 2.337 quilos.[1]
Photos and video
Photo published with the PRF's statement on the 2,337 kg marijuana seizure on BR-163 in Guaíra. Photo: Polícia Rodoviária FederalPhoto details
No street value, plant figure or area was published for this seizure.
The driver's name, age and home town were not published, and no charge, custody decision or court step beyond referral to the Federal Police in Guaíra was reported.
The route is stated only as the driver's account to police: loaded in Mundo Novo, Mato Grosso do Sul, and destined for Nova Santa Rita, Rio Grande do Sul, with the seizure made in Guaíra, Paraná.
Toledo News says the inspection occurred in the early hours of Thursday 5 November, while the PRF statement gives only the day.
Two other outlets carrying the same agency account, Dourados News and EnfoqueMS, could not be opened, so three accounts were used, two of them sharing the PRF text.
The Midiamax picture and the image on the PRF statement are both agency handouts; only the PRF address could be read directly, so one photo is listed.
Paraná's Border Police Battalion and federal agencies seized 7,781 kg of marijuana and skunk hidden in a maize load on a bitrem truck stopped on BR-163 near Marechal Cândido Rondon, and arrested a 30-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman. The operation, part of Operação Protetor, ran from 10 to 11 November 2026, and the battalion put the loss to organised crime at R$16,318,000.
Military Police in Lajinha found 58 marijuana tablets hidden in a stove in an abandoned house on 10 November 2026 and seized 62 tablets in all. A 20-year-old was arrested and a 17-year-old was taken into custody, and both were taken to the Civil Police station in Manhuaçu.
Federal Highway Police officers seized a load of marijuana hidden inside two fiberglass boats transported in a box truck during an inspection on the BR-277 in Cascavel, Paraná. The driver was released after showing he was unaware of the drugs, which were on their way from Missal to Rio de Janeiro.
Shock Company officers seized about 10 kg of marijuana hidden in scrubland in Pescaria, on Maceio's northern coast, after an anonymous tip during a patrol. The drugs were taken to the Central de Flagrantes, and no arrests were reported.
