Brazilian police have seized 6.2 tons of marijuana and arrested three people in three recent raids, officials said on Monday.

The largest seizure occurred on Saturday night in Itapetininga, 163 km from regional capital Sao Paulo. In light of anonymous information, Highway Police found 5.5 tons of marijuana hidden in a truck bound for Capao Bonito, 226 km from Sao Paulo.

On Monday, police arrested a driver Eugenio Santos Coutinho, and seized 500 kg of marijuana hidden in a truck on the Presidente Dutra Highway linking Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The truck was also suspected of being stolen in a car theft.

Coutinho was taken to the Jacarepagua remand center in Rio de Janeiro. Police there have by far seized six tons of marijuana this year.

The Federal Police also seized 220 kg of marijuana and arrested a Paraguayan Claudio Vicente Galeano, who smuggled marijuana on the bottom of a van, in another operation on Puente de la Amistad road that links the Brazilian city of Foz de Iguazu to the Paraguayan city of Ciudad del Este. He was later sent to a remand center in Foz de Iguazu.