Senad clears 143 hectares of marijuana in San Rafael and Caazapá parks
Paraguay's Senad, with CODI troops and prosecutors, ended Operación Frente Sur II on 3 February 2026 after eight days in the San Rafael reserve in Itapúa and Caazapá National Park, destroying about 143 hectares of marijuana and six tonnes of processed cannabis. Five camps were dismantled and no one was arrested.
🇵🇾 San Rafael reserve, Alto Vera, Itapúa, and Caazapá National Park · Paraguay
Paraguay’s National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad), with the Internal Defence
Command (CODI) and the Public Ministry, ended eight consecutive days of
eradication in protected forests on Tuesday 3 February 2026.[1]The operation
was called Frente Sur II and ran in the San Rafael reserve, in Alto Vera
district, Itapúa department, and in Caazapá National Park.[1]Over the eight
days the joint force, supported by Paraguayan Air Force helicopters, eliminated
about 143 hectares of marijuana plantations in the San Rafael reserve area.[1]The teams also destroyed about six tonnes of processed, chopped marijuana ready
for distribution.[1]Five camps were found and dismantled, fitted with tanks,
irrigation systems, electric generators and other advanced equipment.[1]The
Senad put the economic loss to the trafficking organisations at USD 65 million
and said the marijuana produced was destined for Brazil and Argentina.[2]
Prosecutor Rocío Valdez said several raids were carried out in the Itapúa area,
covering 18 parcels and 148 hectares of crops.[1]No arrests were recorded
during the operation.[1]The units that took part were Senad Regional 3
Encarnación, the Joint Task Force (FTC Sur) and the anti-drug unit for Itapúa
and Caazapá, and the raids were carried out by air.[1]
Officials said each hectare of marijuana represents one hectare of cleared
native forest, giving the operation what they described as a strong
environmental component.[1]The Senad said the raids in the Caazapá park and
the San Rafael reserve were coordinated with the Public Prosecutor’s Office,
CODI-FTC and the Paraguayan Air Force.[3]The Senad valued the 143 hectares
and six tonnes it destroyed at more than 434 tonnes of marijuana kept out of
circulation, according to ADN Digital.[4]
Photos and video
Eradication work in the protected forests of Itapúa and Caazapá during Operación Frente Sur II, published with the Última Hora report and credited only as Gentileza (handout).Photo details
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Source: Última HoraA marijuana plot cleared during Operación Frente Sur II, in an image distributed with the SENAD operation report and carried by ADN Digital.Photo details
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Source: ADN DigitalThe destroyed plantation and processed marijuana from Operación Frente Sur II, in a handout image published by ADN Digital with the SENAD report.Photo details
ADN Digitaladndigital.com.pyESOperativo “Frente Sur II” asesta golpe de US$ 65 millones al narcotráfico en áreas protegidas
Open questions the AI reported
The 143 hectares is reported as destroyed in the San Rafael reserve area, while other accounts describe it as destroyed in protected areas of both Caazapá and Itapúa; this report uses the shared total without splitting it between the two parks.
Prosecutor Rocío Valdez is quoted as giving 148 hectares of crops on 18 parcels in Itapúa, which does not match the 143-hectare total given for the operation; the two figures are attributed to their speakers and not reconciled.
The six tonnes of chopped, processed marijuana was destroyed on site; no count of plants was published.
The USD 65 million loss and the ADN Digital figure of more than 434 tonnes are Senad estimates, not weighed or independently verified amounts.
No one was arrested or charged, so no court stage exists for this operation.
The article gives no start date; 3 February 2026 is the day the operation ended, as reported.
The Última Hora photograph is credited only as Gentileza, with no caption confirming exactly where it was taken.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in SWI swissinfo.ch (EFE): The Caazapá National Park covers 16,000 hectares and the San Rafael reserve 73,000 hectares, both part of the Atlantic Forest of Alto Paraná.
SENAD agents raided a rural property in Colonia Nueva Yaú, Capitán Bado, destroying 9 hectares of marijuana, 450 kg of chopped marijuana and five camps. Prosecutor Sarita Bonzi ordered everything incinerated on site while investigations continue to identify those responsible.
A joint task force destroyed three hectares of marijuana and 9,300 kilograms of the drug in the San Lorenzo community of San Pedro del Paraná, Itapúa, on 31 October 2026. Prosecutors are investigating a criminal organisation they say was buying weapons with trafficking proceeds.
SENAD’s Bella Vista Norte unit, using drones to map plots in the Timburi forest reserve, eradicated four hectares of illegal marijuana and destroyed 660 kg in 33 bales at a staging area; the agency estimated about twelve tonnes kept from the market under prosecutor Rossana Coronel’s supervision.
On 29 October 2026 Paraguay's SENAD reported eradicating four hectares of cannabis — about 12 tonnes — and destroying 1,600 kg of drying marijuana at the Indigenous colony Takua Ju in Yby Pytã, Canindeyú. No one was found at the site.
