Paraguayan couple held with 214 kg of marijuana in Rivera, then sentenced
Police in Rivera stopped a Paraguayan-registered pickup at the Curticeiras checkpoint and found 214.68 kilograms of marijuana hidden in its bodywork, detaining a 35-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman. A day later the Rivera courts sentenced the man to three years in prison and the woman to 12 months.
🇺🇾 Paraje Curticeiras, Rivera, Rivera department · Uruguay
Arrested
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Charged
2
Convicted
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Sentenced
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Agencies
Brigada Departamental Antidrogas de Rivera, Fiscalía de Rivera
Two Paraguayan citizens, a 35-year-old man at the wheel and a 19-year-old woman,
were detained in Rivera with 214 kilograms of marijuana hidden in their pickup
truck.[1]At about 23:00 on Sunday 3 April 2022 they entered the country at
the integrated migration control area and drew the suspicion of border officers.[1]At the Curticeiras checkpoint about five kilometres from the centre of
Rivera, the Rivera departmental anti-drug brigade questioned the pair while
searching the vehicle.[1]
Officers found the marijuana packed in bricks hidden in compartments of the
truck’s bodywork, and the final weighing was 214 kilograms and 680 grams.[2]The Rivera police chief said officers found 366 bricks of marijuana in hidden
compartments of a Paraguayan-registered Volkswagen Amarok.[3]Telenoche put
the load’s value at about three million Uruguayan pesos.[1]Police also seized100 US dollars, 345 reais and two mobile phones.[2]Police said the marijuana
had set off from Paraguay, entered Brazil at the triple border and was bound for
Montevideo.[1]
On 5 April the Rivera courts sentenced the man to three years in prison for
transporting and importing narcotics.[4]The woman was sentenced to 12 months
in prison for assisting criminal activity.[4]
Photos and video
Photo published with the report on the 214 kg of marijuana found in the bodywork of a Paraguayan-registered pickup in Rivera.Photo details
Telenoche gives the weight as 214 kilograms, while Subrayado, citing the Rivera police headquarters, gives the final weighing as 214 kilograms and 680 grams; the report uses the final figure and keeps 214 kg in the text.
The checkpoint is spelled Curtiseiras by Telenoche and Curticeiras by Subrayado and Teledoce.
Telenoche's sentencing report says the pair was detained 'this Monday', while its first report places the stop at about 23:00 on Sunday 3 April; the incident date uses the first account.
The value of three million pesos is an approximate police estimate and the article does not state whether it is Uruguayan or another peso.
The route through Paraguay and Brazil to Montevideo is reported as information the police were handling, not as an established finding.
No official police statement or court document could be opened; the accounts rest on Uruguayan television news reports.
Left out vehicles, as its quotation was not found in Subrayado.
Maldonado police reported 90 anti-drug raids leading to 104 people charged or convicted and 47 drug sale points dismantled. The operations seized 30 kilograms of marijuana along with cocaine, vehicles, firearms and cash.
Police found 2.320 kilos of marijuana and other drugs, phones and routers near a module of Unit 4 of Uruguay's national rehabilitation institute, the former Comcar prison, in Montevideo on 23 August 2026. The Ministry of the Interior valued the combined haul at about US$330,000, and the case moved to a narcotics prosecutor investigating collusion by prison staff, soldiers and prisoners.
Anti-drug police raided a drug storage and processing residence in Maldonado Nuevo on 21 May 2026 under Operation Jacobo, seizing 7.5 kilograms of marijuana alongside 4.5 kilograms of cocaine. Officers also confiscated three modified Glock pistols, more than 550 rounds of ammunition and 140,000 Uruguayan pesos as prosecutors investigated the Maldonado and San Carlos network.
Operation Fortuna intercepted 11 postal shipments and seized about 63 kg of hashish sent from the United States, then police detained 13 people in raids across Montevideo, Canelones and Rocha. A court formalized proceedings against 12 detainees and ordered 120 days of preventive detention, while the remaining detainee was released.
