Police Serve Arrest Warrants Against Drug Traffickers in Rio de Janeiro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The State Secretariat of Civil Police on August 8th launched Operation Pró-Labore, to execute seven arrest warrants and 29 search and seizure warrants related to drug trafficking in the Cidade de Deus favela in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro. The action includes the seizure of R$5 million (US$1.3 million) in properties from the suspects’ assets, in an inquiry aimed at investigating money laundering by the criminal organizations operating in the area.

In the inquiry headed by Detective Inspector Gustavo Rodrigues, it was found that the suspects were laundering money from drug trafficking in Cidade de Deus, which, according to the Civil Police, is controlled by a criminal faction. The group’s sophisticated money-laundering network involves the purchase of properties through the intermediation of strawmen, real estate agents, operators, and lawyers.

According to the seven-month-long investigations, the criminal organization purchased some 29 properties, including at least seven formal properties with the aid of strawmen. Several property acquisitions that have not been formalized are also included, totaling R$5 million. Investigations also showed that the group spent over R$500,000 in cash.

In addition to serving arrest warrants, search and apprehension and precautionary measures for the seizure of real estate purchased with drug trafficking money, this first stage of the operation conducts immediate examinations and appraisals for the assets’ alienation and reversal to the Civil Police. The aim is to extract the traffickers’ profits and use them to fight crime.

According to the secretariat, the main focus of the inquiry was to track down and pinpoint these organizations’ cash flow and the suspects who control impoverished communities, territorially dominated by narcotraffickers.

“This investigation is of vital and strategic significance in fighting the cash flow and economic power of criminal organizations controlling territories within the slums in Rio de Janeiro, with a belligerent action against the public authorities and civilians,” the Civil Police Secretariat said in a statement.