The violent drug trafficking hotspot on the Paraguay-Brazil border

Perhaps, in a parallel universe, the small colonial Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero would be just another sleepy countryside town, with an economy based on cultivating the yerba mate which grows in abundance on its outskirts. But, in reality, it is one of the most violent places in the Southern Cone.

Home to little more than 100,000 people, the geographical location of Pedro Juan Caballero has been its downfall. Lying directly on the Paraguay-Brazil border and separated from the Brazilian city of Ponta Porã by nothing more than a series of barrier-less streets, Pedro Juan Caballero has become the crossing point for cheap and often dodgy merchandise, from Paraguay to its rich neighbor Brazil.

And, while once famous for being an inexpensive place for Brazilians to stock up on electronics and consumer goods, some of the cargo crossing the Pedro Juan Caballero-Ponta Porã border is highly illegal, making it one of the most notorious points for smuggling drugs into Brazil.

As such a key crossing point for narcotics, Pedro Juan Caballero has attracted violence. In October 2021, a clash between drug gangs...