Police in Brazil broke up a human smuggling ring in the federal capital of Brasilia. 80 people from Bangladesh paid smugglers up to $10,000 per person to be illegally smuggled into Brazil.
Authorities in Brazil report an increase in human smuggling activities. With Brazil being South America’s largest economy, many migrants for other countries are illegally entering the country though smuggling routes through Peru and Bolivia.
(More fees charged by human smugglers here.)
Source: Shobhan Saxena, “Brazil launches biggest military operation to check drugs, human trafficking,” Times of India, May 18, 2013.
The Labor Ministry in Brazil reported that 2,849 victims of human trafficking were rescued within the country in 2012.
The highest number of victims were rescued in the state of Para, where 563 people were rescued. 150 of those in Para were labor trafficking victims working for an iron producer.
Source: Miriam Wells, “Brazil Frees Nearly 3,000 Slaves,” Insight Crime, May 14, 2013.
According to a survey that interviewed 1,000 people in Brazil, 38 percent reported that they purchased counterfeit and pirated products in 2012. The number of respondent who said they purchased pirated goods was down from the 51 percent in 2011.
97 percent of of those that bought counterfeit goods said that the main reason for their purchase was for the low price.
58 percent of those that did not buy counterfeits said that the low quality of the product was the main deterrent.
The Federal Police in Brazil seized over 11 million pieces of counterfeit clothing within the country in 2012.
Source: Olivia Nascimento, “Brazil: Piracy supports organized crime,” infosurhoy, March 15, 2013.
Drug Traffickers at the border of Brazil pay $50 per kilogram of cocaine that is being smuggled into the country from Bolivia. The cocaine is then moved further inland and sold for $250 per kilogram. Then, traffickers finally sell the kilogram of cocaine for $6,000 in major Brazilian cities such as Sao Paulo.
(See the price of cocaine worldwide.)
Source: Juan Forero, “Brazil tries to fight cocaine trafficking at huge, porous borders,” Washington Post, January 24, 2013.
The United States Department of Justice announced that a husband and wife couple were smuggling people from Brazil into the United States for $16,000. The couple would create a cover story of the illegal migrants being tourists, and transported the people from Brazil to Paris, London, Bahamas and then by boat to the United States.
(See more human smugglers prices.)
Source: “Brazilian Husband and Wife Plead Guilty in Florida to Human Smuggling,” United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, Press Release, January 16, 2013.
The Justice Ministry of Brazil reported that the criminal gang called The First Command of the Capital was active in 22 of the country’s 27 states.
The gang makes up to $32 Million a year trafficking drugs. It has 13,000 members, with 6,000 currently incarcerated in prison.Of the 152 jails in the state of San Paulo, the crime gang controls 135 jails.
Gang members who are not in jail are responsible to paying the group $400 a month.
Source: AFP, “Brazil crime gang has spread through most of country,” Emirates 24/7 , November 25, 2012.
Transnational organized crime groups steal quality cars in Brazil and are able to trade them in Bolivia for 10 kilograms of cocaine, according to security officials.
The network of car thieves is considered to be a major source of funding for organized crime groups in Bolivia.
(Price of cocaine worldwide.)
Source: Insight Crime, “Bolivia plans crackdown on cars-for-cocaine trade,” Christian Science Monitor, October 23, 2012.
The Justice Ministry of Brazil reported that it has found around 500 people who have been victims of human trafficking between 2005 and 2012.
Out of the total number of victims, 337 involved sexual exploitation.
The victims were trafficked out of Brazil and were operating in Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
(See human trafficking prices)
The Justice Ministry stated that over half of the human trafficking networks were managed by women who deceived the victims.
Source: EFE, “Some 500 Brazilians have been victims of people trafficking since 2005,” Fox News Latino, October 16, 2012.
In 2011, authorities in Brazil seized 24 tons of cocaine. 27 tons of cocaine was seized in 2010.
90 percent of the cocaine consumed in Brazil is trafficked from Bolivia and Peru.
One percent of the population in Brazil uses cocaine or crack regularly. Brazil is the world’s second biggest consumer of cocaine after the United States.
Source: AFP, “Brazil cracks down on cocaine trafficking,” Google News, August 27, 2012.
Law enforcement officials in Brazil estimate that between 800 kilograms to 1.2 tons of crack is consumed by people in Brazil every day. The amount of money spent on crack is valued at $10 Million a day.
Crack is believed to either be sold or consumed in 98 percent of Brazilian municipalities.
In 2008, police in the country seized 14 kilograms of crack. In 2010, the amount of crack seized by police in Brazil increased to 200 kilograms.
Source: Associated Press, “Brazil: Drug Dealers Say No to Crack in Rio,” ABC News, August 18, 2012.
