Three men were arrested by the São Paulo Civil Police at Cumbica International Airport in Guarulhos, metropolitan region of São Paulo.
The trio was caught trying to check in 40 kilos of cocaine at check-in by changing the check-in tags on ordinary passengers’ luggage for the suitcase containing drugs.
The scheme, when not discovered in the country of origin, can lead to the unfair arrest of those who had their suitcase changed when approached by authorities in the destination country.
In October, the Federal Police arrested a Libyan-Brazilian man who was trying to carry out the same scam, also at Guarulhos Airport.
At the beginning of the year, a Brazilian couple was imprisoned for 38 days in Frankfurt, Germany after their luggage tags were changed for suitcases containing cocaine. The Brazilian women were released after the security camera circuit that recorded the exchange of luggage was released.
Arrested in Germany
In early March, German police seized two suitcases containing 20 kilos of cocaine each, labeled with the names of Jeanne and Kátyna, and they were arrested.
The basis for the release were images showing luggage being exchanged during a stopover at Guarulhos International Airport, in São Paulo. According to the Federal Police, one day before the two Brazilian women boarded, another woman from Goiás had her suitcase tag changed for luggage containing drugs when traveling to Paris, France, but was not arrested.
Videos obtained by Fantástico, from TV Globo, show how two airport employees identify Kátyna and Jeanne’s two suitcases, one pink and one black, separate them and discreetly remove the labels from them in a security area with restricted access that is monitored by several cameras.
In another video, two women arrive at the airport with two suitcases of different colors at around 8:30 p.m. These were the suitcases that contained 40 kilos of cocaine, according to the police. The two go to an airline counter after a signal from the only employee there, leave their bags and then leave the airport, without boarding for any destination. The two suitcases are taken to the same vehicle where Kátyna and Jeanne’s suitcases are and the exchange is made.
The PF’s Operation Iraúna arrested seven people for their involvement in the case.
Source: CNN Brasil
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