On the afternoon of Wednesday 14 October 2026, a man died after a shootout with military police on an island in the São Francisco river, in the countryside of Ibotirama, in western Bahia.[1] Teams from Rondesp Meio-Oeste, with the 28th Independent Company, had gone there after a report of a planting of about 2,000 cannabis plants.[1]
Officers searched a stretch of closed woods and found the planting.[1] They then saw about eight armed suspects, who the police said fired at them.[1] The officers fired back.[1] The suspects fled into the woods.[1] One of them, identified by the initials M.R.S., was taken to hospital and died.[1] Doctors confirmed the death.[1]
Police collected about 18 kg of cannabis plants from the planting and showed them to the competent police authority.[1] They also seized a Taurus .380 pistol and two magazines, 25 intact .380 rounds, an Astra shotgun in .28 calibre, a second shotgun, 18 intact .28 rounds and 70 spent .28 cases, a camouflage uniform, two precision scales, three torches, a roll of plastic film, a holster, a container of gunpowder and a container of lead shot.[1]
The military police said the rest of the plants would be eradicated on the morning of Thursday 15 October, with the Civil Police technical department.[1] Sudoeste Bahia, also citing the military police, said the seized material was presented at the territorial police station in Ibotirama and that the Civil Police would investigate.[2]