Brazilian police seized 48 tons of marijuana in Rio de Janeiro’s Complexo da Mare favela during a routine operation. The seizure was made possible by a sniffer dog named Hulk, which indicated suspicious activity under an abandoned water tank. Lt. Col. Luciano Pedro Barbosa, commander of the Canine Operations Battalion, stated that this is the largest drug seizure in Brazil’s history and represents nearly $10 million in losses for the criminal faction involved.
The operation took five hours to complete, with 250 military police officers removing the drugs using four trucks. During the removal process, officers were fired upon by criminals, leading to a shootout and the arrest of a suspected gunman. The previous record for the largest drug seizure in Brazil was set in 2021 when highway police seized 36.5 tons in Mato Grosso do Sul.
Police also confiscated five rifles, four pistols, and 26 stolen vehicles during the operation. In recent years, police dogs have played a crucial role in global drug seizures, including a Chicago bust of $1 million worth of cocaine and an U.S.-Mexico border detection of over $10 million hidden in jalapeno paste. Earlier that year, an Italian K-9 helped uncover three tons of cocaine concealed in bananas at the port of Gioia Tauro.