Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world\u2019s largest containerline, has put some land operations on hold in Brazil, fearful of drug cartels working their way into boxes bound for North America and Europe.<\/p>\n
In a notice sent to clients in Brazil last week by MSC, the Geneva-headquartered company stated that criminals were intercepting containers to try and ship drugs overseas.<\/p>\n
As a result, MSC has taken the decision to indefinitely suspend the operations of stuffing and pre-stacking of road, rail and barge boxes for exports across Brazil.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis only concerns some intermodal operations including stuffing of containers in Brazil,\u201d a spokesperson for MSC told Splash <\/em>today.<\/p>\n The news comes as MSC readies to beef up its coverage of Brazil, Latin America\u2019s largest country, with the imminent take over of of Brazilian regional container shipping operator Log-In Logistica.<\/p>\n Drugs busts on MSC ships have made many headlines in recent years and even saw American authorities temporarily withdraw the liner\u2019s Customs Trade Partnership (C-TPAT) certification after a record $1.1bn haul of cocaine<\/a><\/span> was found on the MSC Gayane<\/em> in 2019.<\/p>\n Nearly 90% of all cocaine, 45% of all cannabis, and 30% of all amphetamine type stimulants seized globally during January 2017 to April 2020 were trafficked via sea, according to data from the International Chamber of Shipping.<\/p>\n Brazil\u2019s top port, Santos, was described as \u2018cocaine\u2019s world trade center\u2019 in a report earlier this month published by InSight Crime, a platform covering organised crime in Latin America.<\/p>\n The port has become a \u201ccrucial lynchpin\u201d for the global cocaine trade, the report stated with much of the growth coming from the rise of the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital \u2013 PCC), a powerful drug gang that dominates S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n \u201cThe gang has efficiently extended its drug trafficking tentacles across the region, focusing especially on Paraguay and into Bolivia. In doing so, the PCC controls several major cocaine trafficking routes, with the drug being produced in Bolivia and transported through Paraguay and Brazil to Santos,\u201d InSight Crime noted.<\/p>\n