The Federal Police and the Federal Revenue Service launched on 24 March Operations Retis and Spiderweb, which aimed to repress and dismantle criminal organizations specializing in the shipment of cocaine from South America to the European continent.
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17 arrest warrants and 86 search and seizure warrants were issued for compliance in the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and São Paulo.
Property measures were also enacted for the seizure of properties, blocking of assets and values existing in the bank accounts and financial investments of the investigated, which total an estimated value of approximately BRL 55,000,000.00 (fifty-five million reais), with high probability that, in the course of the work, there will be the identification and blocking of other assets linked to the members of the Criminal Organizations.
The investigations revealed that these criminal organizations used various methods to promote the shipment of cocaine shipments to European countries, through the Port of Paranaguá/PR, such as: the insertion of the drug by divers in the submerged compartment of the ship ("sea chest”), concealment in containers without the knowledge of the exporter, a modality known internationally as “RIP ON-RIP OFF”, concealment in the refrigerating machinery of the containers, concealed packaging of the drug inside legal cargoes of wood, orange juice, sugar, among others.
During the investigations, which began in 2019, 80 seizures were carried out in Brazil and abroad, totaling approximately 21 tons of cocaine.
During the work, two controlled delivery procedures were carried out in conjunction with France, which provided the French authorities with the opportunity to monitor the receipt of cocaine on European soil, with the identification of the criminal group responsible for the drug withdrawal (“RIP OFF ”) in the Port of Le Havre, resulting in the arrest of those involved and the seizure of pistols and rifles, in addition to the drug sent.
It was also found that the criminal organizations investigated have a direct link with the Italian mafia, specifically with a mafia organization constituted in the region of Calabria, which hires the logistics performed by the investigated in Paranaguá to send the cocaine shipments to the ports of Europe, especially the Italian port located in the region where it has a predominance in criminal actions.
The criminal organizations targeted by this operation are also characterized by the extreme violence used in their actions, with the confirmation of the involvement of their members in homicides, including the leader of one of these groups was shot to death.
The work is an offshoot of Operation Enterprise, launched by the Federal Police on 11/23/2020 in several states of the Federation and abroad to fight a conglomerate of criminal organizations dedicated to the crime of international drug trafficking. The investigation launched today involves operational members who work, in particular, in the storage, transport and insertion of cocaine in containers and “sea chest” of ships bound for Europe.
Those investigated in the operation will answer for crimes of international drug trafficking, with penalties that can reach up to 25 years in prison for each action perpetrated, as well as crimes of pertinence to criminal organization and association for the purpose of trafficking, which can reach 24 years of imprisonment. ■
A very active and complex mid-May weather pattern is set to produce numerous areas of severe weather, heavy rain, high winds, and anomalous temperatures through this weekend.