Dec 27, 2011

Largest Pot Bust in History of Northeast

Brazil News

| SALVADOR, Brazil – In a mega-operation, called 'Velocity-5', held between December 21st and 24th, police in Bahia made the largest marijuana seizure ever in the Northeast. Civil Police (PC) presented the details of the operation at a news conference on Monday afternoon.

Narcotics police make largest ever marijuana seizure in Brazil's Northeast in Operation Velocity-5

Operation Velocity-5 (Photo: d24am.com)

According to police, narcotics agents found 16 tons of marijuana, ready for consumption, at three farms, located in the towns of Cafarnaum and Canarana. Agents also seized 500 grams (about 17 oz) of hashish. The total amount of drugs seized has a street value, according to police, of approximately R$8 million reals (about $4.3 million USD).

The drugs were destined to supply the capital, Salvador, and the resort towns along the north coast of the state during the summer months. The marijuana was stored in some 3,000 bags, almost half of those buried at the farms and covered with tarpaulins. Police had to bring in trucks to transport the haul to a secure storage facility. The marijuana will be destroyed after the criminal court gives authorization.

Two of the farms that were raided are located in Cafarnaum, 404 km (218 miles) from Salvador. The owner of one of the farms, Fazenda Boa Novas, was arrested in the act. At that location, police found 10.44 tons of marijuana. At another farm in the city, police took 5.17 tons, bagged, and a half kilo (about 17 oz) of hashish, which was hidden under a tree.

At the third farm, located in Canarana, 339 km (237 miles) from Salvador, 405 kg (893 lbs) of marijuana was found. The investigations indicate that the owners of the three farms, whose identities are being kept confidential, are from two northeastern states.

Read also: Related Stories

Read also: More Articles from Brazil Dispatch

Source(s) for this article: d24am.com

Do you like this post? Please link back to this article by copying one of the codes below.

HTML link code:

0 comments:

Post a Comment