03-07-2025
For Brazil's Criminals, Coffee Beans Are the Target
Donizete Guidini was transporting 30 metric tons of coffee along a country highway in São Paulo on an April night when a car full of armed men forced him to stop. The hijackers directed him to a nearby gas station at gunpoint, stole the truck and cargo, and left Guidini blindfolded in a sugarcane field.
Brazil, the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee, has long grappled with bean thefts by petty criminals and organized gangs alike. But with prices for the commodity sharply elevated compared with past years, farmers and industry groups are warning that the harvest season that runs from late May through September could go down as the worst heist year in recent memory.
