- Brazilian authorities detained Czech, German and Russian nationals carrying hundreds of cacti and their seeds, all native to Southern Brazil.
- The species targeted are critically endangered and highly prized by collectors worldwide.
- The foreigners caught by police include amateur botanists who are renowned among the international cactus-loving community.
- Illegal removal from nature harms the preservation of species that can take up to 10 years to become productive.
Agents from the Brazilian Federal Police found an unusual cargo with four Czech nationals stopped in February at São Paulo’s Guarulhos International Airport: 214 cactus specimens and envelopes containing cactus seeds. The material was hidden in beer cans, paper bags and even inside one man’s shoes, according to the pending court case
The plants belonged to seven species, all native to the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. In a report signed by cactus expert Rosana Singer, a biologist at Porto Alegre’s Botanical Garden, two of those species are listed as critically endangered: Parodia nothorauschii and Parodia neohorstii. Four others are endangered, including Gymnocalycium horstii and Frailea curvispina
The Czechs — identified in court documents as Jaroslav Vich, Karel Slajs, Vladimir Bradna and Vladimir Sorma — arrived from Montevideo and were about to board a flight to Vienna. They carried a map of Rio Grande do Sul and a printed itinerary with phrases translated from Czech into Portuguese and Spanish, such as “Do you know where small cacti grow?,” “Are cacti growing here?” and “Sorry. I don’t know if this is private!”
The group was detained for one day but is prohibited from leaving Brazil by a court order, which also requested a forensic analysis of their phones. The travelers are now under investigation
Within a short period, three other foreigners have been caught trying to leave the country with native cacti from Rio Grande do Sul.
In March, 20 days after the Guarulhos operation, a German couple was intercepted at Porto Alegre’s Salgado Filho International Airport with seedlings and seeds of the Frailea genus, which is praised by collectors worldwide
Jörg Andreas Hofacker and his wife Ute Bosch were fined by IBAMA a total of 148,000 reais ($29,000) for transporting genetic heritage samples and taking them out of the country without the required authorization. IBAMA said they also had fossils and native mollusk shells in their luggage. The couple was released after spending a day in Federal Police custody in Porto Alegre and returned to Germany while still facing charges in Brazil
In 2024, a Russian citizen named Alexey Filippov was detained by members of the Environmental Patrol (Patram) and the State Environmental Department (Sema-RS) while collecting cacti at Espinilho State Park in Barra do Quaraí, Rio Grande do Sul. According to Portal Camaquã, he was carrying 98 samples in paper envelopes
He was released by the State Police but was detained again by Federal Police agents when he tried to board a flight to Russia at Guarulhos International Airport, this time with three additional cacti. Filippov received permission to leave Brazil in January 2025 on the condition that he attend remote court proceedings
In his defense, Filippov said he was transporting the cacti for research purposes and was unaware that an IBAMA authorization was required. Mongabay was unable to reach him for comment
“He was charged with smuggling and trespassing in a protected environmental area,” said Federal Police chief Ana Gabriela Becker Gomes, who is investigating the case. She also took part in operations at Salgado Filho and Guarulhos airports. “These three cases are completely separate and unrelated but have the same profile.”
Both the Czech and German citizens are active in cactus-lover groups, including websites where enthusiasts share plants they collected around the world
One of these websites describes Hofacker’s long journey in Rio Grande do Sul in the early 1990s, when he visited cities such as Bagé, Lavras do Sul, Dom Pedrito and São Gabriel. A species was even named in his honor in the state, Parodia hofackeriana
Hofacker served as president of the German Cactus Society (Deutsche Kakteen-Gesellschaft) for 16 years and has authored several books on the subject, according to the website of an international cactus-and-succulent event held in China in 2024. In a profile, he appears to have written for another international event in Belgium; he said he first traveled to Brazil in 1989 to “observe” plants. “Since then, we have visited this fascinating country over a dozen times,” Hofacker wrote
Mongabay attempted to contact Hofacker by email but received no reply. Mongabay was also unable to reach his wife, Ute Bosch
Czech citizen Vich has a similar profile. Vich, who served as president of the Czech-Slovak Society of Cactus and Succulent Growers, sits on the editorial board of a journal published by the organization and writes articles on specialized websites
In an email to Mongabay, Vich said the plants had been collected in Uruguay and challenged Singer’s report. He also accused Brazilian authorities of violating international human rights standards and freedom of international transit (read his full response here)
Slajs, also a member of the Guarulhos group, reportedly collected cacti in Mexico in the 2000s, according to specialized websites. His name appears in a 2022 seed-sale catalog published by Cactos Mora
Another member of the group, Sorma, advertised cactus seeds on Facebook in 2022
Attorney Matheus Lopes, who represents the group, said his clients would not comment on the story. In the federal case, Lopes stated the Czechs are researchers and amateur botanists who were in Brazil on a scientific expedition to photograph species for a book. The defense also says the plants were a gift from a Uruguayan researcher
“It doesn’t matter if the guy is an internationally renowned researcher or an amateur collector,” said Rodrigo Cambará, an IBAMA analyst and head of the environmental protection division in Rio Grande do Sul’s state capital, Porto Alegre. “He has to obey the law just the same.”
A difficult crime to combat
Among experts, the perception is that this type of crime has always existed but often went unnoticed. “Biopiracy happens repeatedly, but since we have such a long border, we don’t always manage to catch it,” said Mariela Inês Secchi, director of research and education for sustainability at Sema-RS. “It’s like a colonial mindset, as if they could come here and take our re
Rio Grande do Sul is known for its great variety of cactus species, including several rare types. Of the roughly 70 species recorded in the state, 52 are threatened with extinction and 14 occur only there
Because of extinction risk, these species are protected under CITES, the global wildlife trade convention that safeguards animals and plants from predatory trade. To be exported, the plants must be accompanied by an IBAMA authorization confirming that the transaction will not harm the species’ survival
According to Singer, from the Porto Alegre Botanical Garden, cacti are one of the plant families with the highest number of threatened species. “They have a very restricted range,” she told Mongabay
Each plant removed from nature means a huge loss for conservation, since few seeds germinate and some species take up to 10 years to become productive. In some areas, population decline is already visible. “We used to spend an entire afternoon counting individuals. Now people go back there to monitor them and no longer find [the plants],” Singer said
In addition to smuggling, the foreign nationals could also be charged with environmental crimes under Brazil’s Biodiversity Law, which sets rules governing the export of genetic heritage
Banner image:Critically endangered cactus of the species Parodia neohorstii. Image: Leonora Enking from West Sussex, England, CC BY-SA 2.0
