Brazil's government is considering changing the law so that contraband seized on the borders need not be stored by the state for the duration of court cases against alleged traffickers.
Vice-President Michel Temer said that Brazil is considering sending a measure to Congress that mean that seized goods, such as cars, weapons, and drugs, would be certified and then disposed of. Any illegal drugs would be burnt, and items like vehicles or electronics would be auctioned off.
The idea of this measure would be to reduce the opportunity for corruption, for example remove the risk that officials could be bribed to return the goods to criminals.
As Temer put it, “Often there are seizures of 10 tons of marijuana, five tons of cocaine, cars and electronics that are crammed into one place, and often this creates corruption.”
Temer will meet with the ministers of justice, defense, environment, finance and strategic affairs on Wednesday to further discuss the issue.
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