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Federal Police Break Up R$ 76 Million Cigarette Smuggling Ring and Execute 13 Warrants in Campo Grande

The Federal Police launched Operation Rota Clandestina to dismantle a criminal organization specializing in cigarette smuggling, which generated R$ 76 million. Search and seizure warrants were executed, and arrests were made in Campo Grande and Santa Luzia.

On Tuesday (16), the Federal Police launched Operation Rota Clandestina against a criminal organization specializing in cigarette smuggling that generated R$ 76 million. Fourteen search and seizure warrants were executed, 13 of them in Campo Grande and one in Santa Luzia, in the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Area. The Federal Court ordered the pretrial detention of five suspects and the imposition of electronic monitoring on five others.

The operation mobilized 62 federal police officers and 17 federal highway patrol officers. In addition to the arrests and monitoring orders, the Federal Court authorized the freezing of bank accounts and the seizure of movable and immovable property linked to the criminal group.

The operation ran from Paraguay into four states

The criminal organization purchased cigarettes in Paraguay and smuggled them into Brazil. The cigarettes were transported to clandestine warehouses in Campo Grande, from where they were distributed to other states.

The group operated in four states: Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Goiás, and Mato Grosso. For transportation, it used modified vehicles and trucking companies linked to the organization.

Falsified Documentation and Money Laundering

The investigation identified the use of fraudulent tax documents to conceal the smuggling. The organization also set up a money-laundering scheme, using informal channels to send funds to Paraguay.

The group registered assets in the names of third parties—so-called “straw men”—and operated through shell companies to make it difficult to trace its operations.

Twelve Major Seizures Linked to the Group

The Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police carried out 12 major seizures linked to the criminal group. Each of the seized shipments contained more than 1,000 packs of contraband cigarettes.

The investigations were supported by the Federal Revenue Service to identify the organization’s financial transactions and tax fraud.

Source: https://acritica.net/justica/pf-desmonta-esquema-contrabando-cigarros-campo-grande/