This is a translation of the original article in Portuguese. Read the original (Português).
Cocaine seizures at Brazilian airports reached 3.5 tons in 2025, the largest volume ever recorded, according to data from the Federal Police (PF) published by the Brazilian newspaper O Globo. The drug was intercepted at 15 air terminals across the country, and the trend suggests the record will be surpassed in 2026.
The most visible change is in the method. So-called mules, people who carried the drug on their bodies or in their luggage, have lost ground to commercial cargo, which this year accounts for 51.3% of interceptions. In practice, organized crime has started hiding cocaine in shipped goods, which requires access to areas where ordinary passengers do not circulate.
Guarulhos International Airport, in the Greater São Paulo area, accounts for 57.9% of seizures. The other 14 terminals combined account for the rest. France is the main destination of the drug, placing Brazil at the center of a route aimed at the European market.
One example of how the scheme works came from Operation Elenco, launched by the Federal Police in October. The investigation dismantled a gang that had eight employees infiltrated into the operational area of Guarulhos and used these workers to load cocaine among cargo shipments. The group charged between R$370,000 and R$450,000 per crate sent. Renato Machado de Lima, identified as the leader, has been in detention since July 2025.
The case exposes a weakness that goes beyond passenger screening: control over who works in the restricted areas of airports. When trafficking manages to recruit employees with access to cargo, traditional baggage inspection loses effectiveness, and the country’s logistics infrastructure ends up serving crime.
The flow also runs in the opposite direction. The Federal Police recorded a 222% increase in seizures of marijuana and hashish arriving from the United States between 2024 and 2026. The volume rose from 236.4 kg to 761 kg over the period. The PF calls the practice reverse trafficking: instead of leaving Brazil, the drug reaches the country by air.
The advance of narcotrafficking over international logistics is also prompting other countries to act. According to the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil has joined the G7+, an international port network created to fight drug trafficking, launched this Monday (9) in Marseille, France. Brazil and South Korea are the only members from outside the G7. The network brings together 14 major ports and four international organizations. Details of Brazil’s participation have not yet been disclosed.
The accession concerns ports, not airports, but it points to the same problem: the use of legitimate commercial cargo as a disguise for transporting drugs along routes linking South America to Europe.
Reporting from O Globo (p. 11 (nacional, São Paulo/SP e Guarulhos/SP)), Folha de S.Paulo (p. 36 (Marselha/França)).
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