Brazilian police seized a record 48 tons of marijuana hidden in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, uncovered during a routine operation with the help of a police dog named Hulk. The discovery marks the largest drug seizure in the country’s history.
The operation took place in Complexo da Maré, a sprawling network of favelas in northern Rio de Janeiro, where Hulk indicated the presence of drugs under an abandoned water tank. Police then found a bunker containing the entire haul, according to Lt. Col. Luciano Pedro Barbosa, commander of the Canine Operations Battalion.
“All of this was thanks to the work of the dog,” Barbosa said, emphasizing that the seizure was not based on prior intelligence but on Hulk’s detection. The battalion posted images of Hulk after the bust on Instagram, garnering praise for the dog’s role.
It took five hours and dozens of officers to remove the drugs, which were transported in four trucks. During the extraction, officers were fired upon by criminals, resulting in a shootout and the arrest of a suspected gunman.
The haul is estimated to represent a financial loss of nearly $10 million to the criminal faction controlling the area. The operation involved 250 military police officers, who also confiscated five rifles, four pistols, and 26 stolen vehicles, including cars and motorcycles.
The previous Brazilian record for largest drug seizure was 36.5 tons of marijuana confiscated by highway police in Mato Grosso do Sul in 2021.
Why it matters
Complexo da Maré and other favelas in Rio are controlled by criminal factions heavily involved in drug trafficking and violent crime. Large-scale seizures such as this one disrupt the financial operations of these groups and are critical components of ongoing efforts to combat organized crime in Brazil’s urban centers.
Background
Police dogs are regularly used worldwide to detect narcotics due to their keen sense of smell. Hulk’s role in locating the stash in Rio parallels other recent K-9 successes, such as uncovering $1 million worth of cocaine in Chicago in 2025 and detecting over $10 million in drugs smuggled in jalapeño paste at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2023.
Operations like this highlight the continued reliance on both canine units and heavily staffed police interventions to target drug trafficking in vulnerable urban communities across the globe.
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