The routes of colombian marijuana into Brazil through the Amazon basin

Abstract

Marijuana and cocaine trafficking between Colombia and Brazil has experienced a significant increase in recent years, despite the fact that most of the marijuana consumed in Brazil is still of Paraguayan origin. The natural and shortest route connecting Brazil and Colombia in terms of drug trafficking is through the rivers located in the Amazon Basin, where the forest facilitates the criminal activities of local and transnational criminal organizations, while at the same time making it more difficult for states to combat this scourge. The main objective of this study is to describe the growing importance of Colombian marijuana in the Brazilian consumer market, particularly as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the supply chain of this type of narcotic originating in Paraguay. The article is based on a case study of a drug seizure that took place in July of this year on the Negro River, in the state of Amazonas, Brazil.