Brazilian authorities today announced that they will strengthen their
crackdown on cocaine smuggling along the Western border regions of the
nation.
With an estimated 2 million cocaine users, Brazil is the world’s second
largest consumer of cocaine, behind the United States. The past decade
has seen the number of cocaine addicts increasing by many times. In
2003, it was estimated that there were just 200,000 cocaine users in
Barzil. The ease of availability of the contraband, from across the
border from nations like Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru are being blamed
for the recent spike in the number of addicts.
Oslain Santana, an official with the Brazilian national police claimed that the surge in demand for the hard drugs can be associated with the rapid economic growth achieved by the nation during the last few years. He said that the drug traffickers have been attracted by the rise in per-capita spending. Recent estimates suggest that the Brazilian economy is growing at a pace, which is much greater when compared to that of its neighbours.
The law enforcement officials claimed that although Colombia is being regarded as one of the major sources of cocaine and its derivatives worldwide, just 10% of the drug available in the Brazilian market originates from that nation. The remaining 90% originates from Brazil’s neighbours Bolivia and Peru, both of whom shares a long and porous border with Brazil. The officials also said that Brazil’s southern neighbour, Paraguay is the leading supplier of the opiate drug Marijuana to the Brazilian market, contributing to as much as 80% of the total.
Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian president had kick-started a nationwide campaign for the eradication of the drug smuggling operations late last year, targeting large-scale as well as small scale drug dealers. Thousands of drug smugglers have been jailed as a result of the new crackdown, which involves both the national police, and the Brazilian Armed Forces. A total of 24 tonnes of cocaine was seized by the law enforcement officials during last year.
This week, some 17,000 soldiers were deployed along the southern and western borders of Brazil, for a massive anti-narcotics operation, which was termed as Operation Agata 5. Some 3,500 members of the national police are also assigned towards the war on drugs.
Oslain Santana, an official with the Brazilian national police claimed that the surge in demand for the hard drugs can be associated with the rapid economic growth achieved by the nation during the last few years. He said that the drug traffickers have been attracted by the rise in per-capita spending. Recent estimates suggest that the Brazilian economy is growing at a pace, which is much greater when compared to that of its neighbours.
The law enforcement officials claimed that although Colombia is being regarded as one of the major sources of cocaine and its derivatives worldwide, just 10% of the drug available in the Brazilian market originates from that nation. The remaining 90% originates from Brazil’s neighbours Bolivia and Peru, both of whom shares a long and porous border with Brazil. The officials also said that Brazil’s southern neighbour, Paraguay is the leading supplier of the opiate drug Marijuana to the Brazilian market, contributing to as much as 80% of the total.
Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian president had kick-started a nationwide campaign for the eradication of the drug smuggling operations late last year, targeting large-scale as well as small scale drug dealers. Thousands of drug smugglers have been jailed as a result of the new crackdown, which involves both the national police, and the Brazilian Armed Forces. A total of 24 tonnes of cocaine was seized by the law enforcement officials during last year.
This week, some 17,000 soldiers were deployed along the southern and western borders of Brazil, for a massive anti-narcotics operation, which was termed as Operation Agata 5. Some 3,500 members of the national police are also assigned towards the war on drugs.
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