Inside Paraguay's illegal cannabis plantations

Cannabis money feeds families and keeps communities functioning in this corner of Paraguay, but does not provide enough to get these people out of their misery
Al Jazeera
Saturday, November 25, 2017

Eighty percent of cannabis produced in Paraguay is smuggled to Brazil, according to data from Paraguay's National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD). Three million Brazilians regularly use the drug, according to the Second National Survey on Alcohol and Drugs at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, and in the first six months of 2017, Brazil's Federal Police seized 126 tonnes of the drug, most of it originating from Paraguay. The Paraguayan plantations are believed to cover 7,000 hectares. Those working on land reveal a widespread system of impunity, guaranteed by a network of corrupt police officers and other officials.