Trafficker smuggles marijuana in coffins, claims to transport COVID victims

Recife, June 16 (efe-epa).- The Militarized Police of the Brazilian state of Goiás (center) seized 300 kilos of marijuana transported in two coffins by a young man who alleged that he was transporting the coffins of coronovirus victims, according to authorities on Tuesday.

According the police statement, marijuana was found inside two coffins that were sealed and were being moved in a funeral service car driven by a 22-year-old man.

The vehicle was boarded during a roadblock on June 8 (last Monday) on one of the federal highways and due to the nervousness of the driver who alleged that he was carrying two deceased by COVID-19, the agents decided to open the coffins that were sealed and wrapped with a protective plastic.

The marijuana found inside the coffins had left the city of Ponta Porá, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (west) which border with Paraguay, and was destined for Goiania, the capital of Goiás.

The driver of the vehicle, whose identity was not disclosed, was detained, while the confiscated marijuana was sent to a police station in the municipality of Jataí, where the police checkpoint was carried out.

This arrest occurs as Brazil begins a gradual reopening of activities that were suspended by quarantines and measures of compulsory social distancing, despite the increase in number of infections and deaths.

Brazil, the second country most affected in the world by the novel coronavirus, reached 45,241 deaths and 923,189 confirmed cases on Tuesday, according to data from the Ministry of Health confirming that the pandemic is still progressing at an accelerated rate. EFE-EPA

wgm/dss/lds