Paraguay

Sebastián Marset is Uruguay’s most famous drug trafficker and the leader of an international network known as the First Uruguayan Cartel (Primer Cartel Uruguayo – PCU).

One of Paraguay’s most sparsely populated but most homicidal departments, Alto Paraguay serves as an important cocaine transit corridor.

In Concepción, powerful drug traffickers have penetrated local politics. With corruption rife, some municipalities have started to resemble criminal enclaves.

Itapúa is a minor marijuana producer but an important transit corridor for cannabis smuggled into Argentina. Some areas of the river border it shares with Argentina are considered hotspots for marijuana trafficking by authorities in both countries.

Despite boasting one of Paraguay’s lowest murder rates, Ñeembucú is an important transit point for marijuana heading to Argentina.

Located on Paraguay’s border with Brazil, Canindeyú is a key criminal hub in the tri-border area.

Boquerón is an important part of regional cocaine trafficking routes due to its strategic location on Paraguay’s border with Bolivia and its vast stretches of unpopulated land.

Alto Paraná is home to some of Paraguay’s most dynamic criminal economies. Contraband goods continue to flood Brazil and Argentina via Ciudad del Este and surrounding river routes.

Presidente Hayes is one of three departments in Paraguay’s Chaco region, a vast and inhospitable forest area, where criminal organizations operate with relative impunity.