Uruguay seized 594 kg of marijuana and 1,043 plants in early 2017
Uruguay's anti-drug directorate reported that nationwide operations between 1 January and 22 March 2017 seized 594,472 grams of marijuana, 1,043 cannabis plants and 350 grams of cannabis seeds. More than 700 people were detained over drug-trafficking offences and more than 100 were sent for prosecution.
🇺🇾 Uruguay (nationwide operations) · Uruguay
Arrested
700
Charged
100
Plants destroyed
1,043
Cannabis
594.472 kg
Agency
Dirección General de Represión al Tráfico Ilícito de Drogas (DGRTID)
Uruguay’s Dirección General de Represión al Tráfico Ilícito de Drogas (DGRTID)
ran operations across the country that allowed 594,472 grams of marijuana to be
seized in the year so far.[1]Between 1 January and 22 March 2017 the
directorate’s units seized 594,472 grams of marijuana, 1,043 cannabis plants and
350 grams of cannabis seeds.[1]More than 700 people were detained over
offences linked to drug trafficking and more than 100 were sent for prosecution.[2]
The director of the unit, commissioner general Walter Menéndez, said the volume
of operations run by its teams had led drug traffickers to change the way they
work.[1]Menéndez said the operations were based on intelligence analysis of
the timetables, modus operandi and routes used by international trafficking
organisations.[2]Police were permanently monitoring national routes,
especially those giving access to Uruguay across the borders with Brazil and
Argentina.[1]Specialised staff were reinforced in the departments of Rocha
and Maldonado to track criminal organisations during the summer season.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
700
Charged
100
Plants destroyed
1,043
Cannabis
594.472 kg
Agency
Dirección General de Represión al Tráfico Ilícito de Drogas (DGRTID)
The detained and prosecuted figures of more than 700 and more than 100 people cover all drug offences in the period, not cannabis alone.
The figures are a running total for 1 January to 22 March 2017 rather than a single day's seizures, so the incident date is the last day of the reporting period.
No individual operation, arrest or court case behind these totals is identified, and no court outcome for any of the people detained was reported.
Both accounts draw on the same Interior Ministry statement, so the report rests on one official source republished by two outlets.
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.
