Paraguay is key link in South American drug trafficking network, investigation finds

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The latest news of large seizures of cocaine from Paraguay in Germany, Belgium and the Ivory Coast, as well as the dismantling of a drug production center in Alto Paraguay, seem to fully confirm the conclusions of the investigation into organized crime in the Triple Frontier, with the country in the spotlight, reported by InSight Crime organization.

The recently published report highlights that Paraguay has become a key player in the drug trafficking chain due to criminal diversification, the development of “narco-politics” and the “democratization” of smuggling.

In an extensive interactive report, the organization InSight Crime presented the results of an investigation it conducted over the past two years in the Triple Border countries of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay on the rise of organized crime.

The chapter dedicated to Paraguay was extensive and detailed, and it focused on three aspects of how drug trafficking and smuggling have taken root in the country’s territory, making it the most frequent and viable trade route for criminals.

One of the first points mentioned in the investigation is that Paraguay — in addition to being the largest producer of marijuana in the region — became an important processor of cocaine. In fact, reference is made to the Paraguayan Chaco area, where several drug production laboratories have been set up, with European countries as the final destination.

They also point out that there are fewer controls on the sale of the chemicals needed to produce cocaine in Paraguay, “which increases the country’s attractiveness as an alternative location for the processing of the narcotic.”

With respect to marijuana trafficking, the report noted that feared Brazilian criminal gangs such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Comando Vermelho are fighting over territory in the south of the country, specifically in Itapúa, a region bordering Argentina, where the increase in tourism has opened new markets for the sale of marijuana.

The PCC’s incursion into Pedro Juan Caballero, a city on the border with Brazil, has also led to an increase in crime due to the establishment and permanence of the criminal gang in the region.

Meanwhile, at the local level, the Rotela clan also took center stage and took advantage of the overcrowded prisons to increase its ranks and become a major threat.

The dispute over territories for drug trafficking extended to prisons, as criminal groups use prison overcrowding to recruit new members and strengthen their structure despite their leaders remaining behind bars.

All this is part of criminal diversification, as in addition to trafficking marijuana to supply neighboring countries — Argentina and Brazil — cocaine is now also being exported to Europe.

Among these criminal groups, the most dangerous is the PCC, because of its large presence and the sophisticated logistics it uses in its crimes.

Narco-politics and protection of traffickers

InSight Crime’s work includes a section on the incursion of politicians into drug trafficking and the protection they provide to criminals. “The relationship between politics and organized crime has also evolved, with a growing interest in drug trafficking among public officials,” the report states.

According to them, certain political elites have found a source of financing in organized crime, from which they raise funds for electoral campaigns. Access to these funds is undoubtedly the result of the protection and impunity that politicians offer criminals from their positions, who in turn return the favor with money. This situation “degrades the electoral process,” with corrupt campaigns that ultimately undermine democracy.

As an example, they mention the case of deputy Ulises Quintana, prosecuted in a drug trafficking case linked to Reynaldo ‘Cucho’ Cabaña. The legislator is currently awaiting trial for allegedly having used his position to provide protection to cocaine shipments in exchange for illegal money.

The country’s legal framework not only allowed Quintana to be released from prison, where he was preventively detained, but also to run for mayor of Ciudad del Este (CDE) – precisely one of the Triple Border cities affected – with the support of one of the largest and most controversial political groups in the country: the National Republican Association (ANR). Likewise, after his release, the deputy was reinstated as a deputy in the Lower House with no further formalities.

“Quintana is also an example of a lower-ranking politician who joined the criminal networks that once controlled the elites, thanks to his alleged relationship with organized crime,” they note in the document.

Smuggling as part of the regular economy

Another point raised in the investigation refers to the “democratization” of smuggling, which they describe as “a regular market economy that reacts to changes in supply and demand.”

The authors of the report state that the entrenchment of smuggling as an ongoing commercial activity has become a source of political campaign financing.

In this context, they emphasize that the presence of criminal groups in the Triple Border has exacerbated this illegal activity, as local traders have found in them a new market to offer their counterfeit goods.

The smuggling flow is constant with the shipment of tobacco, medicines, household appliances, agricultural products, cars and spare parts.