Couple arrested with 7.8 tonnes of marijuana and skunk in a maize load on BR-163
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$16,318,000.
🇧🇷 BR-163 near Marechal Cândido Rondon, Paraná · Brazil
A 30-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were arrested after officers found
more than 7.7 tonnes of marijuana and skunk hidden in a maize load on a truck on
BR-163 near Marechal Cândido Rondon, Paraná.[1]The two received voz de
prisão, an arrest in the act, for drug trafficking.[1]Paraná POP reported
that the identities of the driver and the passenger were not published.[2]
The Border Police Battalion, known as BPFRON, carried out the seizure in
Marechal Cândido Rondon.[1]The action was integrated between BPFRON, the
Federal Police’s Special Maritime Police Nucleus (NEPOM-PF), the Receita Federal
customs office in Mundo Novo and the Military Police of Mato Grosso do Sul.[1]Teams had received information from the Mato Grosso do Sul military police that
a bitrem truck was heading towards Paraná with a possible drug load.[1]The
truck was a Volvo FH 400 bitrem carrying maize.[3]Officers found bales of
narcotics hidden among the maize during the inspection.[1]
After weighing, the load came to 7,603 kilograms of pressed marijuana and 178
kilograms of skunk, 7,781 kilograms of drugs in total.[1]Skunk is a variety
of cannabis with a higher concentration of THC, the substance responsible for
the plant’s psychoactive effects.[1]The narcotics and the truck used in the
transport were sent to the Federal Police station in Guaíra.[1]According to
the Border Police Battalion, the seizure represents an estimated loss of R$
16,318,000 to organised crime.[1]The action took place within Operação
Protetor, a joint security-force campaign against drug trafficking in the border
region.[1]
The incident began on Tuesday 10 November and was concluded on the morning of
Wednesday 11 November.[1]
OETV reported the same total of 7,781 kilograms and named the Federal Police and
the Receita Federal alongside BPFRON.[4]Correio do Ar reported the same
seizure and attributed the estimated R$ 16.3 million loss to organised crime to
the BPFRON.[5]Portal Tarobá confirmed the same weighed figures of 7,603 kg of
pressed marijuana and 178 kg of skunk.[6]Umuarama News reported the same
weighed figures of 7,603 kg of pressed marijuana and 178 kg of skunk, almost 7.8
tonnes in a single operation.[7]
Photos and video
Handout photo published with the Umuarama News report on the BR-163 seizure of 7,781 kg of marijuana and skunk. Photo: DivulgaçãoPhoto details
The reports say the operation began on Tuesday 10 November and ended on the morning of Wednesday 11 November but give no separate date or time for the approach and the arrests, so 11 November is used as the incident date.
The two arrested were identified only by age and sex; no names, hometowns or criminal records were published.
No charge, custody hearing or court outcome beyond the arrest in flagrante and referral to the Federal Police in Guaíra was reported.
The R$ 16,318,000 figure is the Border Police Battalion's estimate of losses to organised crime, not a market price confirmed by an independent source.
The accounts do not say where the load was put on the truck or where it was to be delivered.
No laboratory confirmation of the substances was reported, and the weights are those given by the security forces at the scene.
Several of the accounts republish the same agency information, so they corroborate the figures without being fully independent reporting.
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.
Military Police in Arapongas stopped a man wearing an electronic ankle monitor on Rua Ema in the Araponguinha neighbourhood on 9 November 2026. Officers seized a package containing 38 grams of cannabis and took him to the 22nd Police Subdivision for proceedings related to drug possession for personal use.
