Nueva Alianza 53: 309 hectares of cannabis destroyed on Paraguay's border
Over ten days, Paraguay's anti-drug agency and Brazil's Federal Police destroyed 309 hectares of cannabis, 96 growers' camps and more than 39 tonnes of the drug in the forests of Canindeyú, Caaguazú and Alto Paraná. Senad says the phase kept at least 966 tonnes of cannabis out of the Brazilian market, where it estimates the crop would have earned USD 144 million.
🇵🇾 Canindeyú, Caaguazú and Alto Paraná · Paraguay
- Hectares
- 309
- Cannabis
- 39,000 kg
- Value (official estimate)
- USD 144,000,000
Paraguay’s National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad) and Brazil’s Federal Police closed the 53rd phase of Operation Nueva Alianza on 31 October 2025, after ten days of raids by air and on foot in the forests of Canindeyú, Caaguazú and Alto Paraná.[1][2] The teams destroyed 309 hectares of cannabis and dismantled 96 camps used as bases for producing and storing the drug.[1] Inside the camps they burned more than 39 tonnes of chopped and pressed marijuana.[1][2] The agency’s statement names no arrests.[1]
The work concentrated on 7 Montes, Pindó and the Morombí nature reserve, in Canindeyú.[1] Paraguay’s air force flew the teams in and the public prosecutor’s office took part.[1] On the last day, Senad minister Jalil Rachid and Brazil’s ambassador, José Antonio Marcondes, followed the raids.[1]
The first count
On 24 October, with the operation still under way, Senad reported 98 hectares eradicated, a potential 294,000 kilograms of cannabis, 3,550 kilograms of chopped marijuana and 1,232 pressed, 12 camps and 11 rustic presses.[3] In the Asentamiento Primero de Marzo, in Alto Paraná, agents found what the agency called a laboratory-type industrial set-up for high-quality cannabis.[3] At that stage it put the loss to the organisations at more than USD 44 million; the final account says the phase kept at least 966,000 kilograms of cannabis from reaching Brazil, where technical estimates put the earnings it would have generated at more than USD 144 million.[1][3]
Rachid has warned that illegal cannabis production has stripped more than 5,000 hectares of forest in Paraguay in two years.[3] Neither statement says whether the cleared plots will be replanted.[1][3]
Photos and video
- Two agents cut cannabis plants in a cleared plot, a helicopter above the treeline Photos: Senad, archived copy
- A pile of cannabis plants burns in a field, smoke rising over the crop Photos: Hoy (Paraguay), archived copy
Sources
- Operación binacional "Nueva Alianza 53" dejó fuera de circulación casi 1.000 toneladas de marihuana en diez días. Senad, 31 October 2025. In Spanish. Archived copy.
- Operação conjunta entre Brasil e Paraguai destrói 39 toneladas de maconha na fronteira. G1, 31 October 2025. In Portuguese. Archived copy.
- Eliminan 98 hectáreas de marihuana en la frontera. Hoy (Paraguay), 24 October 2025. In Spanish. Archived copy.