Increase in cocaine seizures in Brazil
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Recent statistics from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security indicate a rise in the volume of cocaine seizures
The drug menace
Brazil ranks second only to the United States in gross cocaine consumption. It shares borders with the three largest cocaine-producing nations, making it both a destination and transit point for illegally trafficked narcotics. In recent decades, organised crime groups, notably the Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC (First Capital Command), have consolidated their grip on this lucrative market. Indeed, the PCC is the only crime syndicate currently designated by the US Department of the Treasury as an entity engaged in global illicit drug trafficking.
Over the years, these crime syndicates have infiltrated all walks of civil society, business and politics, fostering alliances with other prominent criminal enterprises abroad. Their dominance in maritime drug smuggling operations originating from Brazil is now unwavering.
Recent official statistics from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) reveal that seizures of cocaine and other illegal drugs experienced a slight dip in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period the previous year; yet, they ultimately surpassed the 2023 figures by 6.7%. These figures reflect cocaine intercepted not only at ports, airports and borders but also along federal and state highways, as well as in the bustling street markets.
Though there has been only a marginal increase in maritime drug smuggling incidents and seizures compared to 2023, levels remain alarmingly high. The growing criminalisation of seafarers in connection with ship-sourced illicit drug trafficking continues to raise deep concerns within the maritime industry, highlighting the urgent need for concerted action against this widespread menace.
Official statistics
In Brazil, each state organises and funds its own law enforcement actions and legislates on drug-related matters within the framework established by federal laws and international conventions. However, there are substantial variations in drug policymaking and the reporting mechanisms for drug trafficking incidents among the various state governments. This often leads to discrepancies in data, so official statistics should be analysed with caution, as they may be incomplete or vary significantly.
To address the inconsistent data on drug seizures and standardise reporting procedures across states, MJSP created the National Public Security Information System (SINESP), facilitated by the National Secretariat of Public Security (SENASP). This platform enables Brazil’s 27 states and the Federal District to share public security data, including information about drug trafficking incidents and seizures. SINESP is supported by members of the Unified Public Security System (SUSP), which comprises federal and state police forces, municipal civil guards, port guards, and other law enforcement agencies.
Cocaine seizures in Brazil 2024
Rising drug trafficking incidents and quantities seized
Recent statistics from the SINESP database reveal significant fluctuations in reported cocaine trafficking over the past five years, since the system began collecting nationwide data. In 2023, Brazil documented nearly 181,843 incidents involving cocaine trafficking, resulting in the seizure of 128,720 kilograms of the drug, which averages 353 kg per day.
In comparison, law enforcement agencies documented 183,001 cocaine trafficking incidents in the previous year, confiscating 137,362 kilograms throughout that year, resulting in an average of 375 kilograms of the drug seized per day. This reflects a 6.7% increase in the amount seized in 2022 compared to that reported for 2023. Figure 1
Southeast region
The Southeast region, encompassing the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Espírito Santo, is the most densely populated and economically developed area of the country. Unsurprisingly, it is also the largest domestic market for illicit drugs, particularly cocaine.
This region’s extensive network of airports and seaports – such as Santos, São Sebastião, Rio de Janeiro, and Vitória – plays a crucial role as a primary logistics hub for trafficking cocaine to overseas ports, either concealed inside containers or on vessels.
Despite Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro not providing relevant statistical data to the MJSP for last year, experts estimate that more than half of all cocaine trafficking and seizures occur in the Southeast region. Indeed, the record drug bust in a port in 2024 was in Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, where the Federal Revenue Service (customs), with the assistance of container scanners and sniffer dogs, apprehended 1,201 kilos of cocaine concealed in five containers laden with a shipment of metal scrap bound for Málaga, Spain. Figure 2
Central-West region
Although the Central-West region has only small-sized barge stations on the Paraguay River, the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul share extensive borders with Bolivia and Paraguay. According to official statistics, this region ranked second in cocaine seizure volumes last year, following the Southeast region.
North region
The North region is Brazil’s largest territory, covering nearly half of the country’s land area, yet it has the lowest population density among the five geographical regions. It is frequently used as a route for smuggling cocaine, both for domestic use and for transit to other countries. The main smuggling paths run through the vast and largely unpatrolled Amazon borders with Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia, the three largest cocaine producers.
The metropolitan areas of Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, located to the west of the Amazon rainforest, and Belém, in Pará, to the far east, are major primary gateways for smuggling drugs, weapons, and wildlife along the Amazon’s inland waterways. Drug seizures from barges and fishing boats are regularly reported near major river ports, including Manaus, Itacoatiara, Santarém, Belém, Vila do Conde (Barcarena), and Santana (Macapá). Oceangoing ships calling at these ports risk unknowingly being contaminated with illicit drugs and may also face regional navigation and security hazards.
Northeast region
All nine states in the Northeast region reported a substantial rise in the number of incidents and quantities of cocaine apprehended by police forces, representing an increase of nearly 24%, the highest amongst the Brazilian states. Maranhão, where the ports of São Luis, Itaqui and Ponta da Madeira are located, stood out, recording the highest amount of drug recovered, followed closely by Ceará, home to the ports of Mucuripe (Fortaleza) and Pecém.
In October 2024, the Federal Police recovered half a tonne of cocaine from a Polish-operated bulk carrier near Itaqui, where it was anchored, waiting for its turn to berth to load soya beans for Cartagena, Spain. Some crew members have been taken into custody in connection with this incident. The following month, Customs authorities in the port of Salvador, Bahia, seized 969 kilograms of the drug hidden in a container filled with iron ore destined for Antwerp, Belgium.
Last year, there were no public reports of shipborne drug smuggling in the ports of Recife and Suape in Pernambuco.
South region
The South region was the only area to report a sharp decrease in cocaine seizure incidents, showing an impressive 18% drop from the figures reported for 2023. Notably, the state of Paraná, home to the ports of Paranaguá and Antonina, recorded the highest number of cocaine trafficking incidents and seizures in the region.
In addition to Paranaguá, which ranks second after Santos for both the number of incidents and the volumes confiscated, other ports in the region with reported cases of cocaine hidden on or within ships as well as inside containers include Itajaí, Navegantes, Itapoá, São Francisco do Sul, and Imbituba, all located in the state of Santa Catarina.
While there were no public reports of ships being contaminated with drugs last year at Rio Grande, Brazil’s southernmost port in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, it has frequently been used by criminal groups to smuggle drugs into ships and containers. The most common method employed by these criminals is known as ‘parasite modality’, where covert divers, diving from the shore or using a small boat to approach the ship –typically at night– attach waterproof packages of cocaine to the hull or lodge them into underwater compartments, chiefly sea chests, without needing assistance from the crew or any payoffs to dock workers.
In April 2024, during the Operação Escafandria (Diving Suit Operation), the Federal Police, in a coordinated effort, arrested dozens of individuals involved in international drug trafficking, including divers. Warrants were executed in Rio Grande, Paranagua, and Itajai, among other cities across southern Brazil. As part of a broader effort, the Federal Police are actively pursuing further investigations into drug smuggling under the same modus operandi, in collaboration with Europol and various law enforcement agencies from European countries.
Seizures in ports and ships
Jurisdiction
The Federal Revenue Service (customs authority) and the Federal Police (maritime and border police) share concurrent jurisdiction in combating international drug trafficking at Brazilian ports, airports, and ground crossings. In recent years, they have enhanced their collaboration through intelligence sharing and joint enforcement operations. However, they still lack a unified database for exchanging information about drug trafficking at anchorages, ports, and port facilities. Of course, this limitation –along with the general shortage of manpower and financial resources among police forces– hampers intelligence gathering and ultimately undermines the effectiveness of law enforcement efforts in combating drug-related crimes.
Slight increase in customs seizures
In contrast to official statistics from the Ministry of Justice, which include cocaine seizures made by all law enforcement agencies, the figures released by customs point to a continued decline in the volume of narcotics recovered by customs officials at Brazilian ports and terminals over the past five years.
The downturn is particularly evident at the busiest port complexes, especially that of Santos, where the amount of narcotics seized by customs dropped from 7,100 kilograms in 2023 to 5,982 kilograms in 2024, marking a 16% decrease. Although the official figures for customs seizures will only be released in the ‘Customs Balance Sheet 2024’ to be published in the coming weeks, the reported seizures in ports and port facilities last year increased by around 4%. Figure 4
Whatever the cause, it is a fact that the stepped-up security measures at container terminals have led to the trend of smuggling cocaine in bulk carriers as an alternative to containerised drug shipping, which nevertheless remains the preferred method for drug traffickers.
Shipborne drug trafficking trends
Sea chests as drug stashes
A sea chest is a compartment situated in the side or bottom hull of a ship, located below the waterline and typically not accessible from within the vessel. It serves as an intake point for drawing in seawater, which is used on board for ballast, firefighting and engine cooling purposes. Figure 5
Over the past five years, narco-divers in Brazil have exploited this space to stash large quantities of cocaine, securely wrapped in watertight packaging with ballast weights, often without the knowledge of the crew or port workers. The US Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs estimates that drug seizures in sea chests of ships have increased substantially in Brazil, mainly in the port of Santos, rising from 2.4% of seizures in 2019 to over 30% in 2024.
During the last five years, at least 81 ships have reported contamination in their sea chests, resulting in the recovery of nearly 13 tonnes of cocaine by law enforcement. Naturally, these incidents highlight criminal endeavours that were ultimately thwarted while the vessels were still in Brazilian waters, either due to the detection of drugs during preventive underwater surveys arranged by the shipowners or through intelligence-based police investigations.
In 2024, over one tonne of cocaine was retrieved from the sea chests of eleven different vessels. Half of last year’s seizures took place in the port of Santos. Additionally, three other ships in Paranaguá, one in Imbituba, one in Macapá and one in Pecém (Fortaleza) also had their sea chests filled with cocaine. In these instances, the Federal Police removed the drugs before the vessels departed for their intended destinations. Many of these packages were equipped with GPS devices to help criminals track them. Figures 6 & 7
During the same period, at least seven vessels that departed from Brazil after calling at one or more national ports were intercepted abroad, revealing cocaine hidden in their sea chests. It should be noted that the port where the drugs are seized does not necessarily indicate their final destination. In many cases, the drugs are detected and confiscated at ports that are either before or after the one where the traffickers intended to reclaim them. Figure 7
The volume of narcotics retrieved from sea chests in 2024 shows a 77% decrease compared to the amounts recovered in the previous year. Figure 8
Due to the lower risk of detection associated with sea chests compared to shipping containers, coupled with the escalating profitability of international drug trafficking, it is more than likely that many more ships have unwittingly carried cocaine in their sea chests and other compartments. In fact, some customs officials and security experts speculate that for every shipment of cocaine that is seized, nine others have gone undetected.
Preferred smuggling method
Exporting cocaine in shipping containers remains the method of choice for drug smugglers, as evidenced by the large quantities regularly recovered by customs and police forces in container terminals. In 2024, authorities intercepted 42 boxes carrying over 11 tonnes of cocaine. The drugs were concealed in dry containers, primarily using the ‘rip on/rip off’ method; in this approach, legitimate containerised shipments are exploited by criminals to transport cocaine from the place of origin to the country of transhipment or final destination.
Additionally, narcotics were discovered in refrigerated containers carrying frozen or chilled cargo. In these instances, the drugs were concealed within the load or ingeniously integrated into the structure of the reefer, including its inner walls, front panel, ceiling, and floor. Figure 9
Numerous cocaine seizures have been recorded in the first quarter of this year, indicating that the drug threat will persist in the foreseeable future.
Anti-drug countermeasures
Based on subjective risk assessments, some shipowners are choosing to hire private contractors for port security services. These providers typically offer comprehensive anti-drug packages that include augmented ship security personnel, gangway watch, video surveillance, drug-detection dogs and underwater inspections immediately before departure from Brazil. These proactive loss prevention exercises may partially explain the decline in cocaine seizures from within ships at ports last year, even though higher volumes of drugs were apprehended elsewhere in the country, according to the SINESP database.
Trending ports
Although incidents of drug smuggling at major seaports have declined, there has been a notable rise in these criminal activities at the developing ports within the Northern Arc region. This area stretches from the eastern Amazon to the southern part of Bahia. It includes river ports along the Amazon’s inland waterways and seaports along the coast, down to the 16th parallel south. Sizable cocaine interceptions were recorded at local ports such as Manaus, Belém, Vila do Conde (Barcarena), Itaqui, Pecém, and Salvador. The drug was seized from both containers and ship hulls following the parasite modality.
Consequences for crew
Cocaine smuggling, whether concealed in shipping containers or submerged areas of ship hulls, generally does not attract liabilities towards the crew if the drugs are discovered in Brazil. Local authorities often assume that crew members are unaware of or not complicit in these illicit activities when the criminals employ such covert methods. However, this outlook changes dramatically if illegal substances are found on board the vessel in areas accessible to crew members, shore contractors, or visitors.
Regardless of current trends or the reputation of specific ports as hotspots for drug trafficking, crews operating in Brazilian waters are strongly advised to exercise caution and common sense during their stay. They should be aware of the evolving nature of drug trafficking at sea and understand the associated risks, as well as the potential criminal consequences of engaging with traffickers or behaving recklessly. In Brazil, criminal penalties for drug trafficking can range from 5 to 15 years in prison, along with fines. For interstate or transnational crimes, charges may be increased by one-third to two-thirds.
Shipmasters and ship security officers must ensure that the ship’s security manual is up to date and has been adequately tested. They should enforce compliance among the crew and encourage them to review industry guidance, including loss prevention materials regularly published by P&I clubs and international organisations, to raise security awareness and promote adherence to best practices.
It is equally important to follow the advice of local authorities, shipping agents, and P&I correspondents on local threats in Brazil’s challenging port security landscape and take proactive measures to address them.
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