In Brazil, Highway Robbery Is a Growth Industry

It was 9:30 on a May morning when the bandits struck on an unpoliced stretch of highway in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. Riding in a convoy and carrying assault weapons, they flagged down a driver and closed in for their prize: a truckload of cigarettes. Armed guards in a follow car opened fire, but they didn't stand a chance. Two were fatally shot and one critically wounded in the fusillade; police investigators counted 20 bullet holes in the escort vehicle.

Forget Blackbeard and the Amazon River pirates. Some of the most fearsome and efficient New World predators these days navigate the asphalt. For Souza Cruz, Brazil's biggest tobacco company, truck-jackings like the one in May have become a harrowing routine: Heists by ever more brazen gangs in Rio de Janeiro state surged 127 percent since 2012, the company reported, and there were 300 separate attacks in Sao Paulo state last year alone.