Police launch large-scale operation against int’l drug trafficking
Starting early this morning (Jun. 25), Brazilian Federal Police have served 230 court rulings issued against the suspected of an international drug trafficking and money laundering scheme. Dubbed Family Ties, the operation is being conducted in five states (Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, São Paulo, Goiás, and Rio Grande do Norte), and has engaged 211 federal agents.
Twenty warrants for preventive arrest, two for temporary arrest, 35 for search and seizure in both homes and firms, as well as 136 for the confiscation of land vehicles have been released. Twenty-five properties, seven helicopters, and five luxury vessels are also to be seized, in addition to all assets in Brazil belonging to 38 of the investigated, including those ed in the name of their shell companies.
In a note, the Federal Police reported that the investigated spearheaded their operations from the national borders with Paraguay in Mato Grosso do Sul state. According to preliminary investigations, the organization was led by of a single family, who had “close ties” with the Brazilian criminal organization Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC).
The organization is to distribute large amounts of drugs to a number of Brazilian regions, the police reported. The illicit goods were concealed in trucks amid legal cargo. In exchange for the conveyance, would receive jewelry, luxury cars, and money in bank s linked to shell firms. The jewels and the money used as payment were usually transported in the helicopters to be seized by the law enforcement authorities.
The police are reported to have seized $84.17 thousand in cash, jewelry, two pistols, 27 tons of marijuana, two pickup trucks, and 11 cargo vehicles. Six people were caught in flagrante delicto and are now facing charges.
