00:01Tayane Torres da Silva of Rio de Janeiro says these before and after photos prove her weight loss drug results
00:08are legit, but the drug itself is illicit.
00:12The injections were smuggled into Brazil from Paraguay and never vetted by health authorities.
00:20We're always afraid because there's a reputation that the drug isn't legal in our country, so we're wary.
00:26But we go ahead with it because we want to lose weight, so we're willing to try anything.
00:31Thank God I've already lost four kilos in a month.
00:35She is among a rapidly growing number of Brazilians putting fear aside to be thin.
00:40It helps that the illegal weight loss injections cost a fraction of the brand name drugs.
00:45Earning Brazil's minimum wage of $300 a month, the pet groomer spends about $75 every six weeks on the smuggled
00:54drug.
00:54In April, Brazilian customs agents searched a tourist bus arriving from Paraguay and discovered hundreds of vials of tirzepatide, the
01:03active ingredient behind Manjaro, hidden inside Dolce de Leche.
01:07According to the Brazilian Anti-Counterfeiting Association, nationwide seizures of illegal GLP-1 weight loss drugs went from some 600
01:16units in 2024 to over 60,000 units in 2025.
01:20And it's continued to rise sharply this year.
01:24What alarms experts and officials is not just the volume of the intercepted drugs, but the manner in which they
01:30are manufactured and transported, as weight loss drugs that are not vetted by health authorities could fuel a public health
01:37crisis.
01:38Brazilian officials have linked weight loss drugs to more than 80 deaths still under investigation and more than 3,600
01:46complications.
01:48Illegal versions of the drugs have likely played a significant role, according to experts, who say poor storage of the
01:55drugs, especially when exposed to heat, can ruin even properly manufactured injections.
02:00But in many cases, the desire to be thin is overriding the risks.
02:07Rio resident Vitoria Braga has bruise marks on her stomach from using a smuggled weight loss injection.
02:12She said she never consulted a doctor, even when a dosage increase left her bedridden for four days, with a
02:19fever at night.
02:23I wanted to increase the dose and took the 5-milligram one, but the 5-milligram made me feel sick.
02:29I had headaches for a week, felt no hunger at all, and the mere sight of food made my stomach
02:35turn.
02:35I couldn't eat anything.
02:39She, along with her boyfriend and three relatives, continued to take the drugs from an unknown supplier.
02:46During the four days I was bedridden, the only thing that scared me was the headache, because I thought it
02:51might be my blood pressure, that it might be high.
02:53But I checked, and it wasn't.
02:55So I just took care of myself at home.
02:58I didn't see a doctor.
02:59Brazilian authorities hope recent approvals and the availability of cheaper, authorized weight loss drugs may help steer customers away from
03:07buying more dangerous, illegal ones.
03:09To make a lot of the two times you guys try to make some access money you need протoken in.
03:09I enjoy a lot of the three times I go on.
03:11Just look around.
