Update, June 3, 2026: Jabari Brown was released on June 1 after Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s Office determined that, in his role as a contracted co-pilot, he had no knowledge of the marijuana found on board and no involvement in the case. SENAD Minister Jalil Rachid confirmed the release in a press conference. The three other Americans who were detained, Marisol Rivas, Anthony Vásquez and David Thomas Wise, remain in pretrial detention. Brown has maintained his innocence on social media. The original story, published June 1, follows below.
A story that once sounded like peak internet fantasy has taken a very real turn.
Jabari Brown, the young pilot who went viral after winning a private jet in a MrBeast challenge, was arrested in Paraguay after authorities said he was one of the people connected to a private aircraft where agents found more than 261.6 kilos of marijuana. According to Paraguay’s National Anti-Drug Secretariat, known as SENAD, the plane had arrived from Miami and landed at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport, the country’s main airport, located outside Asunción.
The arrest instantly turned the case into a headline machine: a viral YouTube winner, a private jet, several U.S. nationals, cannabis authorities described as high-THC, and what investigators suspect may have been a route into the Brazilian market.
Authorities said Brown was arrested Saturday night at a hotel in Asunción, becoming the fourth person detained in connection with the case. Three other U.S. nationals identified by Paraguayan media as Marisol Rivas, Anthony Vásquez, and David Thomas Wise were also arrested after agents discovered cannabis hidden in luggage being unloaded from the aircraft. Local outlet ABC Color reported that prosecutors filed international drug trafficking charges against the detainees.
From Viral Aviation Dream to Alleged Trafficking Case
Brown became known online after appearing in MrBeast’s 2025 …
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Author: Camila Berriex / High Times
