Sharks Off Coast of Brazil Test Positive for Cocaine: Study

Increasing cocaine usage rates coincide with inadequate sewage treatment infrastructure, researchers said.

Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro in an undated file photograph. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Sharks off the coast of Brazil have tested positive for cocaine, marking the first time the drug has been found in free-ranging sharks, according to researchers.

In the study, titled “‘Cocaine Shark’: First report on cocaine and benzoylecgonine detection in sharks,” researchers at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro analyzed cocaine (COC) and its main metabolite, benzoylecgonine (BE), in the muscle and liver tissues of 13 Brazilian sharpnose sharks.