Source: Superávit - MG - 11/08/2009

San Matías (Bolivia) - The entry of counterfeit medicines and medical equipment in Brazil occurs not only through the busiest sections. In the third article of the counterfeit Cura series, the State of Minas / Correio Braziliense shows that products without effect also reach the deserted borders, such as the border between Bolivia and Mato Grosso. The lack of inspection on the stretch between San Matías, on the Bolivian side, and Cáceres (MT) turns the region into a “no-man's-land”. Not even the seizure by Anvisa of 59 thousand kilos of counterfeit drugs in the region, in the last 18 months, has stopped the problem. Inspection is also a flaw in the border between Brazil and Uruguay. The sale of medicines takes place in a large square located between the two countries.

Knowing the limits between the cities of Cáceres, in Mato Grosso, and San Matías, in Bolivia, we understand why the region has become one of the main routes for smuggling and trafficking in counterfeit or banned medicines in Brazil. Between the two countries, there are almost 1 kilometers of dry border, with numerous trails and clandestine roads. On the Bolivian side, pharmacies sell boxes of all kinds of medication to anyone, even those restricted to medical prescription by the Bolivian Ministry of Health. These substances are easily found in the nearby Brazilian city.

The State of Minas / Correio Braziliense spent three days at the Brazil-Bolivia border investigating the scheme for the sale and distribution of illegal drugs. In San Matías, a municipality of 10 inhabitants, the reporter suffered extortion by soldiers from the Bolivian army, threatened theft by pedestrians and received proposals from taxi drivers and cyclists to transport goods across the border. He found scrapping of stolen cars and a lot of misery. He was also the target of a supply of cocaine, found how simple and cheap it is to buy vetoed medicines in Brazil and witnessed the lack of enforcement.

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From Cáceres to San Matías it is 80 kilometers on the BR-070. In this stretch of highway, the Pantanal landscape predominates - flooded plains, trees crowded with birds, pastures with hundreds of cattle. There are no settlements, gas stations or any shops along the highway. Just outside the city of Mato Grosso, even before the interchange to the road that leads to San Matías, there is a fixed post of the Federal Highway Police. In the six times he crossed the post, the reporter was not stopped by patrolmen or witnessed an approach to a vehicle.

In addition to the wetland and beef cattle herds, the BR-070 is marked by holes. Trucks loaded with wood extracted in Bolivia, pickup trucks, touring cars with Brazilian license plates and taxis with Bolivian license plates cut the road regularly. One kilometer from the border, there is the Corixa detachment, of the Brazilian Army, where the BR-070 and the asphalt ends. Soldiers do not guard at migration checkpoints. This service falls to the military and civil police of Mato Grosso, members of the Special Border Security Group (Gefron).

Straw cover At a post made of wood and covered with straw, mounted on a dirt road 800 meters from the Army barracks, a PM and a Civil Police officer ask for documents from anyone entering and leaving the country. The few men of the special force do not have modern vehicles, helicopters, heavy weapons, sniffer dogs or equipment to inspect luggage and cars, such as X-rays. Next to the Gefron post, there is an abandoned unit of the IRS and a trailer from Anvisa , with two health workers concerned about swine flu.

Following advice from federal police officers specialized in combating drug trafficking in Mato Grosso, the reporter did not cross the border with his rental car. If he did, he would be a sure target for theft or robbery (assault with death), according to the feds. With that, he left the vehicle next to the Gefron station, near another wooden shack, where there is a room with a cloth at the entrance and the sign “Bathroom 50 cents”, another room with a counter and a refrigerator, occupied by soda , beer and water. It is the bus terminal of the place.

The owner of the improvised property charges R $ 1 for the spot under a mango tree. It also helps to organize taxi trips. On average, the trip to San Matías, in seven kilometers through a bumpy road in a broken car, costs R $ 10.

Drug supply

In San Matías, a miniature of Christ the Redeemer welcomes you. In the dry season, the cement statue painted white is covered by red earth dust. The image is the symbol of the municipality. It gives its name to the local football club, Cristo Rei, which plays on a grassy field, without bleachers or lighting. There is also the central square, with the country's flag, wooden benches, images of broken angels, a light source without energy and water.

There, people meet, older people rest, children play and criminals offer illegal drugs and cocaine to Brazilians. All in front of the Military Police battalion, from where the soldiers leave behind the foreigners. The Brazilian who dares to get out of the car and stop at the central square or some street is subject to the approach of the military. Young people with shriveled bodies, barely larger than the rifle they carry, ask for the foreigner's documents and, without ceremony, bribes as if they were tips, to avoid the search. The military earn, on average, the equivalent of R $ 200 per month. With that, they are satisfied with a bribe of R $ 5.