VILLA GOBERNADOR GALVEZ, Argentina (AP) — Originating in Brazil, the Paraguay River travels hundreds of miles southward to merge with the Parana River, forming a single 2,100-mile waterway that serves as a crucial route for transporting agricultural and mineral resources across South America to the Atlantic Ocean. This riverine pathway links Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, facilitating the transport of significant amounts of soybeans, ores, and minerals, essentially acting as the Mississippi River of the southern cone nations.
While the Amazon River surpasses it in size and length, the Parana-Paraguay waterway handles a comparable volume of freight. Most vessels navigating this waterway are large, towering ships carrying bulk cargo for international corporations like Cargill. These massive ships dwarf the small port towns lining the Paraguay-Parana route.
Deep within these ships, vast quantities of soybeans are loaded from warehouses teeming with towering piles of soy, a staple food source for countless livestock worldwide. Despite its industrial significance, the waterway, known locally as the “hidrovía,” retains elements of its historical roots.
Fisherman Dante Andino starts his day before dawn, typically around 5 a.m., with his 14-year-old son Pablo by his side, learning the fishing trade. Equipped with rubber boots, Andino carefully unfurls his net, casting it multiple times daily from his modest rowboat. On average, he earns about $20 per day, with his net being his most prized possession, albeit susceptible to damage from the massive freighters passing through. Andino laments the challenges posed by these vessels, remarking, “They tell us that the river is for agricultural exports, not for fishermen,” highlighting the struggle faced by traditional fishermen like himself.
Gustavo Idígoras, representing Argentina’s oil and seed business chamber, emphasizes the necessity of maintaining the waterway for global food security, as it serves as a crucial conduit connecting Argentina to over 120 international markets. However, alongside legitimate trade, the waterway has become a route for illicit activities such as drug trafficking.
In recent years, drug cartels, including Brazil’s First Capital Command, have exploited the waterway to transport cocaine to European destinations like Belgium and the Netherlands. Seizures totaling over 50 tons of cocaine have been made in European ports, with much of the illicit trade linked to the First Capital Command.
The scale of drug trafficking is staggering, with instances of bold attempts to smuggle large quantities of cocaine. In a notable case in July, authorities in Paraguay intercepted four tons of cocaine concealed within sugar sacks in a container bound for Antwerp, Belgium. This incident underscores the cunning methods employed by traffickers to evade detection.
An investigation by Paraguay’s anti-drug agency, Senad, revealed extensive cocaine production in Bolivia, with traffickers using small aircraft to transport the drugs to Paraguay’s Chaco region, border
“It’s the perfect geography for drug trafficking,” said Francisco Ayala, a spokesman for Senad. “It is an ideal terrain for trafficking all kinds of products, it is ideal,” added Ayala. “It is a sparsely populated area with rough terrain, directly on the border with Bolivia.”
“Paraguay’s Chaco (region) has, and lends itself to, setting up clandestine airstrips for drug flights mainly from Bolivia,” he explained.
Once in Paraguay, the drugs in the 2019 case were transported by land to Seguro de Villeta, a shipping port on the upper Paraguay River. At this location, the cocaine was concealed in freight containers destined for Belgium and Holland.
Further downstream on the river lies Rosario, Argentina, the picturesque hometown of soccer star Lionel Messi and revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, situated just 180 miles (300 kilometers) from the point where the vast river meets the sea. Here, the trafficking activities and violence escalate as the shipments approach the sea, with drug gangs competing to safeguard their cargo. Homicide rates in Rosario are five times higher than the national average for Argentina.
Rosario’s connection to soccer extends beyond Messi; in November, authorities announced an investigation into the murders of two leaders of the fan club for the city’s soccer team, Rosario Central, suspecting a possible targeted attack by rival factions or drug syndicates.
The situation deteriorated to such an extent that President Javier Milei implemented a strong crackdown on crime, known as “Plan Bandera” (the Flag Plan). This initiative involved deploying law enforcement personnel to the city’s most troubled neighborhoods and tightening supervision over gang leaders orchestrating criminal operations from within prison walls.
