Two Bolivian nationals, aged 25 and 40, were arrested on Friday, October 13, in a gas station on the Engenheiro João Batista Cabral Highway (SP-225) in Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, Brazil, for international drug trafficking. Their arrest followed a police intervention by the Special Actions Battalion (Baep), where officers observed symptoms indicative of having ingested drug capsules, including redness around the mouth and throat, along with abdominal and lumbar rigidity.

Upon suspicion, the duo was taken to a hospital where X-ray examinations revealed approximately 140 capsules, each weighing about 15 grams, inside their bodies. The men confessed to swallowing these capsules in Bolivia and planned to transport them to Brazil for a contact whose identity they failed to reveal. This situation illustrates the extreme lengths individuals may go to in the drug trafficking trade, utilizing methods like ingestion to smuggle substances across borders.

This incident raises further questions about drug trafficking routes between Bolivia and Brazil, highlighting the ongoing challenges both countries face in combating organized crime. The involvement of international traffickers and the alarming trend of drug ingestion as a smuggling tactic exemplify the need for enhanced law enforcement and cooperation between nations to address this pressing issue effectively.