Military Police arrested a 31-year-old man for drug trafficking on the morning of Friday 13 November 2026, at about 9am, at Linha Vista Alta, in the interior of São Miguel do Oeste, in western Santa Catarina.[1][2] The occurrence began when a patrol stopped a GM Vectra parked in front of a wooded area, where a 26-year-old man was waiting in the car.[1][2] Nothing illicit was found on the 26-year-old during the personal search.[3] During the approach, officers found the 31-year-old coming out of the woods carrying a glass jar, and inside the container were 10 packages of cocaine that weighed 217 grams after weighing.[1]
Officers then used the sniffer dog Ayla, which found two bricks of marijuana buried in the wooded area, weighing about 1.48 kilograms.[1][2] WH3 reported that the bricks were hidden at the base of a tree, covered with leaves and branches, and put the marijuana at 1,485 quilo.[4] Together with the cocaine, the seizure came to 1.697 kilograms.[3] The 31-year-old received voz de prisão, Brazil’s in-flagrante arrest, and he and the 26-year-old were taken with the seized material to the Civil Police station of São Miguel do Oeste for the legal procedures.[1][2]
WH3 reported that the operation was checking complaints that a wooded area belonging to the Brazilian Army was being used to hide and store drugs, with complaints received on 20 October and 10 November.[4] WH3 reported that both men received voz de prisão for drug trafficking and association for trafficking.[4] WH3 also reported that one of the two men had been acquitted by the Santa Catarina Court of Justice in March 2026, after a May 2025 seizure of more than 70 kilograms of drugs, and was arrested again in this occurrence.[4]
