PF arrests drug gang that used divers in RSPF Disclosure
Published 04/17/2024 22:49 | Updated 04/17/2024 22:51
São Paulo – The Federal Police of Rio Grande do Sul yesterday dismantled a gang that was involved in trafficking cocaine to Europe. The organization used a method known as “parasite”, in which the drug is hidden by divers in submerged compartments of cargo ships departing from the Port of Rio Grande.
Criminal organizations have relied on this type of strategy to evade supervision. As shown by Estadão, last year alone, Navy divers seized 1.68 tons of cocaine in ship hulls in actions carried out in the Port of Santos, in São Paulo.
Federal police officers carried out 26 search and seizure warrants yesterday in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná and 12 preventive arrest warrants. As of last night, ten people had been arrested, nine of them in Brazil and one in Germany. Two suspects remain at large.
Prison in Germany
“It is important to remember that one of these court orders was carried out with the support of Interpol, Aeropol and the German police, who arrested on Tuesday morning an individual who was believed to be one of the leaders of this criminal organization. The suspect resided in Germany and was detained in the port city of Bremerhaven”, said delegate Matheus Vivacqua Cechet.
According to him, the gang had been investigated for two years. “We identified that members of this organization, both in the Port of Rio Grande and in Paranaguá (in Paraná), used divers to insert drugs into the hulls of ships”, he said “At the end of 2023, we were able to identify that the gang managed to contaminate a ship in Rio Grande. This ship was destined for Spain, in the port of Las Palmas. We contacted the police authorities there and they seized 198 kg of cocaine that left here”, said the delegate.
In the police action, the PF seized documents, as well as boats, vehicles and several cell phones. Three other people were arrested in the act with unregistered weapons. A clandestine laboratory, where the drug was prepared for sale and shipment to Europe, was discovered and closed.
