Brazil sees spike in seizures of 'gourmet marijuana' produced in the USA

Seizures of products from the USA went from 236.39 kg in 2024 to 664.74 kg in 2025. Between January and July this year, the volume reached 897.66 kg, an increase of 35% compared to last year as a whole.

With Canada, which began to appear with greater weight in seizures from 2025 onwards, the volume coming from the two countries reached 1,032 tonnes in the first seven months of 2026, compared to 1,016 tonnes in the total last year.

According to Federal Police investigators, the advancement of marijuana originating in North America is linked to its high commercial value, due to the higher concentration of THC, the drug's main psychoactive component, and the ease of transportation in smaller loads.

Known as "gourmet marijuana", the product can reach a price per kilogram close to that of cocaine and, in some cases, even surpass it.

While pressed marijuana, traditionally from Paraguay, has between 2% and 8% THC, flowers produced in North America can reach 30%, according to researchers. In concentrated products, the content can exceed 50%.

The greater concentration also changes the logistics of trafficking. Instead of transporting tons of pressed marijuana, criminal organizations can move smaller, higher-value loads, with similar financial returns and lower transportation costs.

Researchers attribute this difference in THC to the development of the legal cannabis industry in the United States and Canada, which has driven investment in genetic improvement, seed selection and more sophisticated cultivation techniques.

According to investigators, criminal organizations began to incorporate these technological advances into the illegal market, both through access to higher-potency products and more sophisticated cultivation techniques.

Marijuana produced in North America arrives in Brazil mainly by postal shipments and by passengers used as mules. In orders, the drug is usually camouflaged in packaging of supplements and other products.

The airports of Guarulhos and Viracopos, in São Paulo, Confins, in Minas Gerais, and Galeão, in Rio de Janeiro, are among the main entry points identified.

There are also indirect routes, with Paraguay, the largest supplier of pressed marijuana, functioning as a warehouse for cargo originating from other countries, including the USA.

Recently, Paraguayan authorities seized 311 kg of marijuana in a shipment from the USA that, according to investigations, was destined for Brazil.

In addition to the USA and Canada, investigations have already identified marijuana with a higher concentration of THC from Uruguay and Colombia, countries where the development of legal cultivation has also favored genetic advances.

Morocco remains one of the main origins of hashish that arrives in Brazil. According to investigators, part of this trade takes advantage of international cocaine routes: fishing boats and sailboats take the drug towards Africa and Europe and can return loaded with Moroccan hashish.

More recently, researchers began to identify, at Brazilian airports, cargo coming from Thailand with products with higher added value.

Domestically, Brazilian production expanded and underwent transformations. Illegal cultivation, historically concentrated in the so-called Polygon of Marijuana, in the interior of Pernambuco and neighboring areas, has already been identified by authorities across a wider range of the territory, with evidence of plantations from Pará to the north of Minas Gerais.

There was not just a geographic expansion. According to investigators, marijuana produced in the country has undergone a leap in quality. Analyzes have already identified plants grown in Brazil with THC concentrations between 11% and 15%, above the percentages normally found in the Paraguayan pressed substance.

One of the hypotheses is that Brazilian producers are incorporating genetic material and techniques developed abroad. Investigations have already found, for example, seeds of Colombian origin in plantations in the country.

The Federal Police seeks to combat this production by eradicating plantations and investigating the financial structures that support cultivation. The strategy seeks to reach financiers and members of criminal organizations.

The actions, according to investigators, seek to reduce the supply capacity of criminal groups and increase production costs.

The Federal Police operates on two fronts to eradicate marijuana plantations: Operation Carcará, carried out in Brazil, and Operation Nova Aliança, developed in Paraguay in partnership with local authorities.

In Brazil, the recreational use of marijuana was not legalized, but possession for personal consumption ceased to be a crime following a decision by the STF (Supreme Federal Court), which established 40 grams of cannabis or the cultivation of six female plants as a parameter to presume personal use.

This does not mean that this quantity is released: the drug can be seized, and the user can be subject to administrative measures.

The limit is also not absolute. Smaller quantities may be considered trafficking if there is evidence of commercialization, while carrying more than 40 grams does not automatically characterize the crime.

For medicinal purposes, cannabis-based products can be prescribed and sold or imported in accordance with Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) rules, and there are cases in which patients obtain judicial authorization to cultivate the plant for their own treatment.

Anvisa also regulates the production of cannabis with up to 0.3% THC for medicinal and pharmaceutical purposes by authorized legal entities, in addition to providing specific rules for research.

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