AsunciónWeight-loss drugs are now Brazil’s sixth most-seized contraband.
Federal Revenue Service data show first-half seizures ran 300% above all of 2025.
Armed gangs in Paraguay rob pharmacies and warehouses for tirzepatide, and smugglers move it along the Caipira Route to São Paulo.
Endocrinologist Barbara McGowan says unsupervised use risks gallstones, nutritional deficiencies and gastrointestinal side effects.
Brazil’s largest pharmacy chain loses about $900,000 a month to thefts and misappropriation of the pens.
How each outlet framed it
- InSight Crime
- maps diversion from Paraguay through organized crime routes, attributes demand surge to social media pressure
Sources: InSight Crime