Criminals Pay $ to Smugglers to Bring Weight-Loss Pens from Paraguay into Brazil

Criminal groups pay at least R$500 ($98) to smugglers to transport weight-loss pens from Paraguay into Brazil, a product that has been replacing e-cigarettes on organized crime routes because it takes up less space and yields higher profits.

Brazil's Federal Revenue Service escorted a bus traveling from Foz do Iguaçu to Florianópolis after receiving a tip-off. During the inspection, authorities seized dozens of Paraguayan tirzepatide ampoules —the active ingredient in Mounjaro— along with goods valued at more than R$300,000 ($ 58,000). One passenger was detained for transporting electronics belonging to third parties.

The medications are manufactured by Paraguayan laboratories and registered with Dinavisa, but are banned in Brazil. Eli Lilly, the maker of Mounjaro, warns that products outside the regulated supply chain may be contaminated or ineffective due to a lack of temperature control.

Anyone convicted of a crime against public health can face 10 to 15 years in prison —a harsher penalty than that prescribed for drug trafficking. "Besides possibly losing effectiveness, it may even become toxic to the body," said Fernando César Oliveira, superintendent of the Federal Highway Police in Paraná.

Paraná led Brazil in pharmaceutical seizures on federal highways in 2025, with 22,975 units seized, accounting for 33.5% of the national total.

Read the article in the original language

News from Brazil

Receive in your email inbox a summary of the day