Fuel smuggling from Argentina to Paraguay by river on the rise

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A video showed the moment in which several people are seen carrying jerry cans of fuel to load them into a canoe and then cross the Paraná river.

According to information provided by witnesses, there are three crossing points used for smuggling: one in Paticuá, another one on Bertoni street, and the third on the land of a private individual facing the Paraná river.

The smuggling, which amounts to 100 liters per person, is explained by the price difference between Paraguay and Argentina. And those involved in this illegal smuggling use their trips to Argentina to bring in mainly cigarettes.

According to a service station employee in Eldorado, fuel sales in Paraguay have a limited daily quota, the lines are endless at pumps and many service stations run out of fuel during the day.

Faruk Jalaf, president of the Chamber of Service Stations and Related Industries of the Northeast (CESANE), said that ” this situation is repeated all over the country and it is not a problem only in Misiones, although it is worse in the province due to the reopening of borders.”