HomeNewsBriefParaguay Traffickers Exploit Lucrative Chile Marijuana Market
BRIEF

Paraguay Traffickers Exploit Lucrative Chile Marijuana Market

CHILE / 17 FEB 2015 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

Drug trafficking groups in Paraguay can earn almost 20 times more selling marijuana in Chile than on the domestic market, according to Paraguayan authorities, an indication of how price discrepancies between countries can shape the regional drug trade.

Anti-drug investigators in Paraguay recently said the market price for a kilo of marijuana is around $45, however the same amount can be sold in Chile for between $800 and $900, reported Ultima Hora. Paraguayan traffickers pay close to $30,000 to smuggle 400 kilos of marijuana through Argentina to the central Chilean city of Los Andes, where the drug shipment fetches $360,000 on average.

Authorities became aware of the financial details of the cross-border marijuana trade following the dismantling of two drug trafficking networks that sent models to Chile so they could smuggle the cash profits back to Paraguay. One of the drug trafficking rings was reportedly led by a captain in the Paraguayan army. In addition to the $30,000 it cost to smuggle the marijuana to Chile, the models reportedly charged the drug traffickers up to $10,000 for each trip. 

In total, Paraguayan drug traffickers earn approximately $320,000 for each 400 kilo shipment of marijuana sold in Chile, according to Ultima Hora.

InSight Crime Analysis

The difference in marijuana prices between Paraguay and Chile is a good example of the push-pull dynamics that determine how South America's regional drug trade is patterned. In September 2014, Paraguay's drug czar Luis Rojas told InSight Crime that Chile's lucrative consumer drug market has made it one of the principal destinations for Paraguayan marijuana, despite the two countries lacking a shared border. In November 2014, authorities in Argentina seized over 8.5 tons of marijuana originating from Paraguay that was bound for Chile, the country's biggest marijuana seizure on record.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Paraguay

Paraguay is South America's largest producer of marijuana, with traffickers also feeding the markets in Argentina and Brazil, where it can be sold at a significant mark-up. Brazilian criminal groups in eastern Paraguay -- the country's principal marijuana-growing region -- are thought to control a substantial portion of the cross-border drug trade. Widespread official corruption in Paraguay also facilitates the heavy flow of marijuana destined for Brazil. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BRAZIL / 28 JUL 2022

Former Paraguay president, Horacio Cartes, is accused of money laundering at home, with US authorities also on his tail.

CHILE / 1 JUN 2022

A new report by Chilean think tank AthenaLab has laid bare Chile's ever-increasing spectrum of criminal threats, from copper theft…

CONTRABAND / 6 JAN 2022

A string of contraband meat seizures in Paraguay is indicative of the way smuggling has undercut the country’s flagging domestic…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…