Brazilian police discover coffins filled with marijuana in a hearse after the driver was stopped and lied to cops about transporting the remains of two COVID-19 victims
- A 22-year-old man was arrested in Goiás, Brazil, after he was busted driving a funeral hearse with two coffins that contained 626 pounds of marijuana
- The driver told the police that he was transporting the bodies of two people who had died from the coronavirus in the city of Ponta Porã, Mato Grosso do Sul
- The man told he would receive $950 for transporting the drugs to Goiânia, a city in Goiás
- The suspect was taken into custody and is facing 15 years in prison
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
A drug trafficking network that tried to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic in Brazil suffered had their plans foiled when police discovered two coffins were stacked with 626 pounds of marijuana.
Military police officers patrolling highway BR-060 outside Jataí, Goiás, on Monday stopped a funeral hearse after they noticed it driving erratically.
The cops questioned the 22-year-old man, who informed the agents he was transporting the bodies of two people who had died of the coronavirus in Ponta Porã, a city in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul near the Paraguay border.
Military police officers in Goiás, Brazil, remove one of two coffins filled with 626 pounds of marijuana following a traffic stop Monday. The driver (left) of the funeral hearse told police he was transporting the remains of two people who had died of the coronavirus
The military police said its agents decided to stop the hearse after it was seen driving erratically. The 22-year-old man said he was paid $950 to deliver two caskets filled with marijuana from Ponta Porã, a city in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul near the Paraguay border, to Goiânia, the capital of Goiás. He is facing up to 15 years for drug trafficking
Several hundred plastic wrapped bundles of marijuana were concealed inside the two funeral coffins
The motorist failed to provide documents to prove he was ferrying the corpses in the sealed caskets.
Once they saw how nervous he appeared as he was questioned, the police were able to get him to comply to allow them to search through the coffins where they unearthed several hundred bundles of marijuana.
The man later confessed he was being paid $950 to deliver the marijuana filled coffins to Goiânia, the capital of Goiás.
The driver of a funeral hearse that was transporting two coffins filled with 626 pounds of marijuana of marijuana could face 15 years in prison if he is convicted
The police said the agents decided to unseal the coffins when the driver (left) failed to produce documents that proved he was ferrying the bodies of two people who died of COVID-19
Cops on a Brazilian highway near the city of Jataí discovered two coffins with 626 pounds of marijuana during the traffic stop of a funeral hearse
He was taken into custody and could face up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted.
‘The curious thing is that the driver narrated that there were two bodies in the coffins and that they were isolated because they were victims of Covid-19,’ Lt. Col. Sérgio Marques Duarte said, according to Brazilian news outlet G1.
‘The police decided to open the coffins and were faced with this large amount of drugs. It was a strange incident.’
Brazil has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Latin America. The deadly bug has killed 45,241 people and 923,189 have tested positive. It is both the highest number of deaths and infections outside the United States.
Members of Brazil’s military police carry one of the two funeral coffins that were stuffed with marijuana