Weekly Report - 9 December 2003

Brazilian authorities are being forced to revise their assumptions regarding their country's role in the international drugs trade. Hitherto the main emphasis has been on Brazil's known role as a conduit for drugs coming mainly from Colombia, en route to European markets — and internally, on the growth of the big drug-trafficking gangs of Rio and São Paulo, which have expanded from local retailing to major drugs-for-arms deals with Colombian guerrillas.