Brazil Says Cocaine Hidden in Timber Could Set National Seizure Record

Brazilian authorities say a border operation involving customs officials, federal police, the Army and foreign partners may have uncovered the largest cocaine seizure in the country's history.

The operation, called Timber Shield, retained eight trucks on Sunday, June 21, carrying about 260 metric tons of wood near Brazil's border with Bolivia. Preliminary tests on the cargo were positive for cocaine, according to the Federal Revenue Service, Brazil's tax and customs authority.

What Was Found

Four trucks were stopped in Corumbá, in Mato Grosso do Sul, and four more in Cáceres, in Mato Grosso. Both cities sit in Brazil's western border region, a corridor long watched by authorities because of cross-border smuggling routes.

Officials said the cocaine appeared to be in liquid form and mixed into the wood, a method meant to conceal the drug inside a legal cargo. Based on previous cases using the same technique, the Federal Revenue Service estimated that 10% to 20% of the cargo's weight could correspond to illicit substances.

If that estimate is confirmed, the seizure could amount to roughly 20 to 50 metric tons of cocaine. The Federal Police, Brazil's national investigative police force, will conduct the criminal investigation, take custody of the material and confirm the final volume through forensic analysis.

International Links

The case appears connected to a broader international trafficking scheme. According to information shared by U.S. authorities and cited by Brazilian officials, recent seizures in Chile and Brazil may have originated from the same production site in Bolivia.

On June 6, Chilean customs authorities seized 100 metric tons of cocaine from Bolivia in a similar scheme involving liquid cocaine mixed into wood. Brazilian officials described that Chilean case as the largest known seizure of its kind, with the Brazilian operation potentially ranking among the largest if the forensic estimate is confirmed.

Finance Minister Dario Durigan said on X that Timber Shield involved cooperation with the United States' drug enforcement authorities and Bolivia's customs agency. He said the case showed the need to combine intelligence, customs inspection, criminal investigation and international cooperation against sophisticated trafficking networks.

Custody and Verification

The Brazilian operation began after intelligence led authorities to increase monitoring and inspection in the border zone on Friday, June 19. The trucks were retained two days later.

In Brazil, the operation included the Federal Revenue Service, the Federal Police, the Brazilian Army, Mato Grosso's Special Border Group, and forensic police from Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. O Globo reported that Bolivia's anti-narcotics force was also involved in the information-sharing effort.

The cargo remains fully on Brazilian territory and under Brazilian control. The Federal Revenue Service said Bolivia's customs authority was allowed to monitor the inspections because the area falls under an integrated border-control arrangement, but it stressed that the cargo cannot return to Bolivia under any circumstances.

The main fact still pending is the final amount of cocaine. For now, officials are treating the case as a potentially historic seizure, but the exact figure depends on the Federal Police's technical analysis.