Brazilian police arrested 12 drug-trafficking suspects in its southern state, officials said on Monday.
According to the police, the arrested transported one ton of marijuana every month from Paraguay to Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande do Sul and distributed the drugs in the state's capital city Porto Alegre.
The police said that about 50 policemen participated in the raid, Operation Don Quixote, in Porto Alegre and in towns of Canoas, Alvorada, Sao Leopoldo, and Guaiba, in Rio Grande do Sul.
Police had investigated the case for three months and found that the drug gang could make a profit of some 450,000 reais (250,000 U.S. dollars) every month from drug trafficking, said Bancolini, chief of police from the narcotics department.
The arrested were charged with international drug trafficking. If convicted, they would be put in prison for five to 15 years. Two of the suspects were also charged with illegal possession of a firearm and may face sentence of up to three years in jail.