The Friendship Bridge, connecting Brazil and Paraguay near the iconic Iguazu Falls, has long been a route for smugglers moving cheap, illicit goods, like cigarettes and electronics. But in recent years, Brazilian authorities say smugglers have found a far more lucrative product: weight-loss drugs.
As demand for GLP-1 based medications explodes in Brazil, seizures of unauthorized weight-loss drugs have soared along the Brazilian-Paraguay border. More than 76,000 pens, vials and other products containing drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide were seized at the border in the first half of 2026 — nearly three times the number confiscated during all of last year, according to data from Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service.
The surge has turned weight-loss drugs into one of the most valuable categories of contraband seized in the region, as smugglers capitalize on soaring demand in Brazil and significantly lower prices across the border. Experts say the trade is increasingly attracting organized criminal groups because the products are highly profitable and relatively easy to transport.
But health workers are warning of the adverse consequences of purchasing these drugs through an informal seller. Consumers may have no reliable way of knowing exactly what they are injecting into themselves.
