Brazil seizes 2 tonnes cannabis:

Police in Brazil on Saturday said they seized two tonnes of cannabis being transported in a refrigerated truck near the southeastern coastal town of Pirai.

The Civil Police in Rio de Janeiro state said in a statement that they arrested 33-year-old suspect and seized “about two tonnes” of cannabis, as well as of two assault rifles and a pistol.

Both drugs and arms had been secreted within the body of the truck, police said.

The city of Rio de Janeiro, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Pirai, is a center of the illicit drug trade in Brazil, with powerful gangs of narcotraffickers controlling some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

In late February, President Michel Temer put the army in charge of public security in Rio state, in an attempt to quell an upsurge of street crime and drug-related violence. (AFP)