RIO DE JANEIRO, April 9 (Bernama-dpa) -- Brazilian police seized nearly 50 tonnes of marijuana in Rio de Janeiro, in what authorities said was the largest drug haul in the country's history, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
"Impressive, a historic seizure, the largest in Brazil," said Luciano Pedro, commander of the military police canine unit, in comments to news portal G1 published on Wednesday.
About 48 tonnes of the drug were discovered on the roof of an abandoned building in Complexo da Maré, a cluster of slum neighbourhoods in the northern part of the city.
The cache was located with the help of sniffer dogs, Pedro said.
"They are trained precisely for this, to detect the scent of the drug in any environment and signal to the patrol so officers can reach the hiding place."
The seized marijuana is estimated to be worth around 50 million reais (US$9.8 million), representing a significant economic blow to organised crime, authorities said.
More than 250 officers were involved in the hours-long operation, which took about five hours to transport the drugs using multiple trucks, and also resulted in the recovery of several rifles and handguns.
Brazil is one of the largest cannabis markets in South America, with much of the supply smuggled overland from neighbouring Paraguay.
Criminal networks typically operate in a decentralised manner, making seizures of this scale relatively rare.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
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