Report: Brazilian Drug Gangs See Massive Profits from Ozempic Roberto Pfeil/picture alliance via Getty Images

Growing demand for Ozempic and similar drugs used for weight loss in Brazil has sparked a wave of violent robberies across pharmacies by organized gangs who see it as a lucrative source of income, the New York Times reported over the weekend.

Ozempic is a controversial drug primarily used in the treatment of individuals with type 2 diabetes. In recent years, usage of the drug for weight loss alongside similar drugs such as Wegovy and Saxenda has seen a dramatic surge in the United States and around the world.

São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, has become a “hotspot” for weight loss drug robberies in recent months, with its pharmacies increasingly targeted by thieves in search of the highly coveted and expensive drug, according to the New York Times. The gangs then reportedly resell the drug on platforms such as WhatsApp or Facebook, where they have “little problem” finding buyers. The Times stated that a month’s supply of Ozempic costs between $120-190 in Brazil, a country whose monthly minimum wage hovers at around $300.

David Fernando, a 36-year-old pharmacist from São Paulo, told the Times that he was assaulted while working at a drugstore in late January by a man who wanted money from the register and “medications from the refrigerator,” referring to Ozempic and other weight loss drugs. The alleged assailant reportedly made off with five boxes of the drug.

The drugstore, Fernando explained, had been robbed twice before for its Ozempic in late 2024. Following the most recent incident, a security guard is now posted outside the pharmacy.

The Times pointed out that another drugstore four blocks north was attacked in August. Police interrupted that Ozempic robbery, leading to a shootout that left an elderly woman injured, according to Brazilian media outlet UOL. The pharmacy has taken “even greater precautions” after the August incident.

The two robberies cited by the Times follow numerous reports from local media throughout 2023 and 2024 of Ozempic robberies across São Paulo’s pharmacies. In June, the Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that a pharmacy in eastern São Paulo was robbed three times in less than a month by alleged thieves in search of Ozempic.

The pharmacy claimed that the alleged criminals stole more than 20 boxes of Ozempic in addition to other drugs such as cannabidiol extract and Venvanse. The latter is a medication used in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is reportedly known locally for its illegal use. An investigation by local police determined that the same gang carried out all three robberies, also robbing another pharmacy in that same month, and selling the stolen medicine on the internet.

Similarly, in March, another gang allegedly stole over $210,000 worth of drugs, including 80 boxes of Ozempic, from pharmacies in São Paulo. Police arrested the five-man gang — reportedly responsible for at least 20 robberies of medicine, vehicles, and other goods — at a warehouse where they allegedly stashed the merchandise. According to reports, the gang sold stolen Ozempic and Venvanse, which normally require prescriptions, for less than the normal market price.

In May, a man suspected of stealing Ozempic from more than 20 pharmacies in the southern city of Londrina, Paraná, was shot and killed by local officers after failing to obey an order to stop during a police approach.

The growing “black market” for Ozempic and similar weight loss drugs in Brazil has also led to reports of counterfeit Ozempic. In October, police officers in Río de Janeiro warned of the growing fake drug market after a woman under Ozempic treatment was hospitalized in Rio’s Copacabana neighborhood. Upon being discharged, the hospital’s staff reportedly asserted that they suspected that the woman could have been a victim of counterfeit Ozempic.

“Anyone who stocks Ozempic can’t work in peace,” Wilson Martins, manager of an independent pharmacy in western São Paulo, told the Times. “People ask ‘Do you have Ozempic?’ No, we don’t. And that way, we don’t get robbed.”

Martins, 72, further explained that customers who want one of the coveted weight loss drugs must order it in person and make an appointment — and added that he keeps a “leather-sheathed machete” behind the counter for “good measure.” 

Pedro Ivo Corrêa dos Santos, police chief at São Paulo State’s Department of Criminal Investigation, told the Times that the “growing trend” of violent pharmacy robberies has left workers fearful and prompted the establishments to reduce their supply of the weight loss drugs. Many of the pharmacies, Corrêa dos Santos explained, operate 24/7 and store the product in a fridge with no real security.

“Some criminal gangs have been robbing trucks making wholesale Ozempic deliveries,” Corrêa dos Santos said. “One gang that the police dismantled last year included employees of a transport company.”

The Times pointed out in its report that local celebrities, influencers, and even politicians have openly spoken about their use of Ozempic for weight loss, exacerbating the public demand for the drug.

During his 2024 electoral campaign, current mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes told his followers that he “took a lot of Ozempic” and lost about 65 pounds. Paes promised his followers that, if elected, he would make Ozempic available for free.

Paes reportedly reiterated upon taking office in January that he would pursue a program to combat obesity based on the acquisition of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, once the drug’s patent expires in 2026 in Brazil.

The wave of violent Ozempic robberies across Brazilian pharmacies has occurred amid an ongoing escalation of general gang violence nationally. This has been heightened by a reported alliance between the First Capital Command (PCC), Brazil’s largest transnational organized crime syndicate, and the Comando Vermelho (“Red Command”), another of Brazil’s leading criminal organizations.

An intelligence report from Brazilian Justice Ministry reviewed by local outlets over the weekend warned that, based on information from the National Secretariat for Penal Policies, both PCC and the Red Command have reached a possible “cooperation agreement” with the unification of the gang’s legal team that aims to strengthen both groups and plead the demands of its leaders, who are presently imprisoned.

The Brazilian authorities’ report further warned that the possible union of both criminal organizations and the consolidation of their trafficking routes could lead to an increase in international cocaine trafficking and arms trafficking to Brazil.

The alliance appears to have gone into effect after Red Command members recently stormed a police station in Rio de Janeiro where Rodolfo Manhães Viana, a Red Command leader, was being held. The assault reportedly left one police officer wounded. 

Last week, a police search for Álvaro Malaquias Santa Rosa, one of the most wanted drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro, led to a shootout between police officers and drug traffickers that left four injured and caused damages to a police helicopter, forcing it to make an emergency landing.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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