Drug traffickers use Brazil northeast ports as hubs to distribute cocaine

Santos, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, is considered one of the main cocaine distribution hubs in the world. The port appears on a list of four locations that stand out in the global maritime drug trade, along with Buenaventura and Cartagena, in Colombia and Guayaquil, in Ecuador. This information is included in a report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), released this week.

The same document reveals, on the other hand, that smaller ports located in the northern part of the Brazilian territory are taking an increasingly important role as entrepots for the transatlantic cocaine trade, especially for those shipments destined for Europe.

Alternative

The report does not indicate which ports are those or in which states they are located. However, it informed that traffickers are resorting to these alternatives after the port of Santos increased inspections.

For researcher Thiago Moreira de Souza Rodrigues, from the Postgraduate Program in Strategic Studies in Defense and Security at the Fluminense Federal University (PPGEST/UFF), some ports in the Northeast have stood out as outposts.

“Brazil’s shore is geographically projected towards Africa and Europe. The Northeast is the part of South America closest to Europe and Africa,” informed the researcher.

In April this year, the Brazilian Federal Police (PF) carried out an operation against a criminal organization that used the port of Salvador to ship the drug to Europe. From 2019 to 2021, more than 3.5 tonnes of cocaine trafficked by the group were seized.

In December 2021, the Federal Revenue Service of Brazil seized almost half a tonne of cocaine at the port of Mucuripe in Fortaleza. The cargo, estimated at R$ 250 million, was destined for the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

In November of that year, 1.6 tonnes of the drug were found in the port of Natal (RN), camouflaged amidst ginger. In the previous month, at the port of Vila de Conde, in Barcarena (PA), a ton of cocaine was seized, mixed with a shipment of manganese. In both cases, the destination was the same Dutch port city.

“The drug trade is a fast-paced industry. Because it works illegally, the distribution methods are quite flexible. When you squeeze one end, the other inflates, which is known as the ‘balloon effect.’ If Santos is the main route and repression is in place, drug trafficking will be diverted to other areas. If it fails on one side, it will seek alternate routes,” explained Rodrigues.

However, as the report stated, the port of Santos has not lost its strategic importance in illegal trade. For example, on Thursday (30), the Federal Police and the Federal Revenue Service seized 500 kilograms of cocaine disguised in a container with an authorized sugar shipment.

Two weeks earlier, a tonne of the drug had been seized in the port of São Paulo in two different operations.

It is worth mentioning that illegal drug shipments are not an exclusive problem of São Paulo and the states in the Northeast of Brazil. For example, similar seizures were carried out this year in ports such as Paranaguá, Rio Grande, a private terminal in Vitória, and Aracruz.

Exporter

According to the same report, Brazil is the leading exporter of cocaine outside of the American continent, surpassing Colombia, one of the world’s three top cocaine producers, along with Bolivia and Peru.

Brazil, along with Ecuador and Mexico, is considered one of the three most important countries in the global cocaine market, excluding the three producing countries.

Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador have been recognized as the primary entry locations for cocaine into Europe.

From 2015 to 2021, 70% of the cocaine seized in Africa and 46% of the shipments held in Asia left the American continent through Brazil. In 2020 and 2021, the country was the origin of 72% of the cocaine found by Asian authorities.

“Brazil has already firmly established itself in this position. For over a decade, the report has identified Brazil as a major hub for international trafficking to Europe,” says Thiago Torres.

According to the researcher, there are several explanations for the phenomenon. The most obvious is Brazil’s geographic position. In addition to being the only one that borders the three producing countries, the country has an advantageous position in the South Atlantic, allowing easy maritime connections with Africa and Europe.

Other points highlighted by Rodrigues are the presence of international criminal organizations in Brazil, such as the Italian mafia, for several years, and the role of Brazilian criminal factions, such as those in Rio and São Paulo, in intercontinental trafficking.

The researcher also recalls that Brazil is an important cocaine consumer market, as pointed out in the United Nations report. Between 2016 and 2021, 416 tonnes of cocaine were seized across the country, according to Federal authorities.

Inspection

In a statement, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security informed that it deployed around 1,000 security professionals on permanent surveillance along the country’s 16,900 kilometers of the land border through Operation Horus.

The Ministry also stated that it has invested in training and purchasing various vessels to prevent drugs from entering rivers.

“By joining state and federal security forces, it was possible to avoid a breach of R$801.2 million in the public budget and to embezzle R$6 billion from criminal organizations through the seizure of drugs (1,515 tonnes), weapons (4,400), vehicles (8,700), vessels (659), smuggled products and the arrest of 15,300 people from May 2019 to May 202,” listed the ministerial note.

Source: Diário de Pernambuco

To read the full original article, please go to: https://www.diariodepernambuco.com.br/noticia/vidaurbana/2022/07/traficantes-recorrem-a-portos-do-nordeste-para-distribuicao-de-cocaina.html

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