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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tiago Rogero in Rio de Janeiro

The São Paulo connection: a Brazilian gang is spreading its cocaine business into Australia

Police with guns stand next to a table loaded with packages of drugs.
Police guard approximately 350kg of cocaine seized by Australian authorities in 2024. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

In September 2020, the Australian Border Force intercepted 552kg of cocaine concealed in 2,000 boxes of frozen banana pulp that had arrived at the port of Sydney on a ship from Brazil.

Two years later, a diver was found floating dead next to 52kg of cocaine near the port of Newcastle, in New South Wales, Australia. Police later discovered that he was a Brazilian national who had been attempting to retrieve drugs from a cargo ship’s hull.

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