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Slim Shady: Smugglers Eye Big Profits Running Weight Loss Drugs into Brazil
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OCCRP
Law Enforcement ChallengesIn Paraguay, tirzepatide is manufactured legally, and a weekly dose costs around $40, according to price lists from online pharmacies.
In Brazil, the drug is only licensed by Eli Lilly, which manufactures tirzepatide in the U.S. under the brand name Mounjaro.
In Brazil, a weekly dose of Mounjaro costs nearly seven times as much as it does in Paraguay, at $278, according to a review of online pharmacies.
Revenue officers told reporters that because the border is so busy, they are barely able to inspect between 1 to 5 percent of all people and traffic crossing between the two countries.
But Emerson Rodrigues, a high-ranking police officer in Foz do Iguaçu, told reporters that the smuggling networks are pre-existing and do not rely on established organized crime groups.