YouTuber infiltrates Rio de Janeiro drug scene, revealing Brazil's low street prices

A YouTuber had the rare opportunity to video vlog the inner workings of one of Brazil’s notorious slums in Rio de Janeiro, offering the outside world a glimpse of its drug markets that are run by gang members. 

Greek travel vlogger Timmy Karter gained access to the favela in the north area of Rio de Janeiro, an opportunity most regular people don’t have. He recorded his time there in a 70-minute video vlog. However, the content was too controversial for YouTube’s guidelines. 

Karter, however, still wanted to share the video with his followers and ended up uploading it to a site with a paywall. 

“My Next video is one of the Most UNIQUE Experiences I have ever lived in Brazil and Unfortunately there are a few minutes of scenes that I can’t upload here on Youtube due to its super strict restrictions!!” Karter posted. 

“However I truly wanna share with you what I saw and experienced because that’s (at the end of the day) the purpose of my channel!! “

In the controversial video, viewers can see Karter walking through the shanty town and being offered marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs that were displayed on tables, much like a regular market. 

“They were selling anything you can imagine. People were super cool. I don’t know if I can ever post this on YouTube, oh my god,” Karter says. 

At one point, one of the salesmen asks Karter to film their logos. Karter points the camera to the logo, which reads “C.V.”—one of the “largest criminal organizations in Brazil. 

Not only was Karter surprised at the sheer amount of drugs being offered, but he was also baffled by the “insane” price tags they were being sold at. While in London three grams of cocaine would cost about $200, in the favela three grams were being sold for as low as $4, Karter explains to one of the sellers. 

Realizing that it is around a 5,000 percent increase between the two countries, the seller tells Karter: “You should buy it from here then and sell it in Europe!”

Karter says that the danger he put himself through to record the video was completely worth it because he said he got to know the “reality here in favela.” 

“If you ever go to Brazil, I defxinitely recommend finding a local and exploring favela to mix with the locals,” he wrote.

“It will give you a great perspective of how some people in other parts of the world are living, and you will see both sides of the coin – the positives and the negatives of life inside a Brazilian favela!”