The Federal Police eradicated about 20,000 cannabis plants and arrested three people on Wednesday 4 November 2026 in the rural zone of Paes Landim, in southern Piauí.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] The operation was run from the Federal Police’s Picos base in Piauí.[1]

During the operation the teams found four plots used to grow the drug.[1][9][2][3][5][6][8] The Federal Police estimated the potential production of the plots at about four tonnes of cannabis.[1][9][2][3][5][6][8] Officers also found irrigation machinery, fertilisers, cultivation tools and a structure for raising seedlings at the sites.[1][9][2][3][5][6][8]

The Federal Police’s own statement gives the location as the rural zone of Simplício Mendes rather than Paes Landim.[10]

On 4 November 2026 g1 corrected its own report to say the cannabis plots were found and the arrests made in the municipality of Simplício Mendes, not Paes Landim, as the Federal Police subsequently clarified.[9] The suspects were arrested in the course of the operation.[9] The Federal Police did not release the identities of the three detainees or say what procedures followed their arrests.[9]

One of the page’s photo captions describes the police as having eradicated about 20,000 cannabis plants in Paes Landim.[2]

The three people arrested in the operation were taken to the public jail in Picos.[3]

Police searches during the operation seized firearms and ammunition allegedly used by the suspects, and the material was sent for technical forensic examination.[7] The three detained individuals were taken to the competent police station, where they gave statements and remained at the disposal of the justice system.[7]