In collaboration with Interpol, the Federal Police of Brazil launched today (September 20) Operation Double Risk, aimed at dismantling transnational drug trafficking organizations. The efforts were supported by police agencies from Spain, Switzerland, and Portugal.
Seven preventive arrest warrants are being executed in Brazil, three arrest warrants in Europe (two in Spain, one in Portugal), and 80 search and seizure orders in the Brazilian states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo — in addition to orders to block bank accounts and seize luxury goods and vehicles.
The investigation began in 2017 and clarified the operation of each of the crimes committed, from recruiting individuals, storing drugs in suitcases, and booking tickets and hotel rooms to delivering illicit substances to traffickers abroad, the agents stated.
“The recruited individuals were prepared to pose as tourists and transport drugs abroad, especially to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Sometimes, the criminal organizations convinced them to take their own underage children on these trips as another way to evade police scrutiny.”
According to investigators, the criminal groups targeted young people with no criminal records and low income, promising easy and exorbitant profits, deceiving them with the possibility of trips to Europe with all expenses paid, including clothing.
The suspects will face charges of transnational drug trafficking, organized crime, and money laundering, with sentences that can total up to 33 years in prison.
Source: agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br