Group ‘Used Shell Companies’
The PF said 130 police officers and 20 Federal Revenue Service employees conducted the raids.
Courts issued at least eight arrest warrants and around two dozen search and confiscation warrants in Caxias do Sul, São Paulo, Fortaleza, and Brasília. They also seized multiple motor vehicles and impounded properties.
Brazilian police busts gang that moved 3 tonnes of illegal Amazon gold https://t.co/x3mgvCHWMR pic. .com/RtPVbqMSEZ
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 10, 2024
Police spokespeople said the groups began operating in 2021. They then allegedly developed complex financial operations with “several layers.”
They said the money “mainly” originated “from drug trafficking and people smuggling” networks.
And they think the “groups under investigation” used “shell companies and other tactics.” This was part of a bid to “make it difficult for the authorities” to track the funds, officers said.
The spokespeople added that the suspected leaders of the groups hail from Caxias do Sul and Orlando, Florida.