Federal Police (PF) and local police operations have focused on irregularities in the registration of weapons by collectors, hunters and sport shooters (CACs), which has facilitated access to weapons by criminals. Different investigations have already taken place in at least seven states in recent months.
On Friday (21), the PF arrested four members of a gang that defrauded the CAC registration to obtain weapons and sell them illegally. Criminals used social media to capture customers. Last week, another operation seized an arsenal, including four rifles, with a suspect who allegedly obtained the weapons through orange CACs. In July, a fake CAC was arrested who was passing weapons on to the First Capital Command (PCC).
The actions take place in a context in which the number of registered weapons in the hands of hunters, shooters and collectors is already over 1 million, according to a survey by the Igarapé and Sou da Paz Institutes. Since the beginning of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, the amount of weapons for this group has increased by 287%. The number of CACs rose 474%, from 117,467 in 2018 to 673,818 as of July 1 this year.
The category can purchase from revolvers to rifles, with the right to 60 weapons, 30 of which are for restricted use. For collectors there is no limit. The country now has more than 2,000 shooting clubs.
Investigation
On Friday, Operation Zona Cinza carried out 37 search and seizure warrants and 11 orders to suspend economic activities, hitting shooting clubs and gun stores in three states: Pernambuco, Alagoas and São Paulo.
The warrants were issued by the Federal Court of Caruaru (PE), where investigations began in 2021. At the time, it was found that a shooting club and a gun store from the same group were offering courses, repair services, maintenance and customization of firearms without a PF license to act as gunsmiths.
According to the PF, the investigation identified a large criminal organization that falsified CAC documents, giving legal appearance to both the trade and the illegal possession of firearms.
“The group used legal entities as instruments to produce interviews, videos and other content to spread the company’s name, especially through the internet, with illegal advertising for sale. With that, it stimulated the indiscriminate use of firearms and incited the practice of crimes”, he said, in a note. Also according to the PF, the operation will continue to identify others involved and investigate the execution of fraud against the systems of public inspection and control bodies.
rifles
In Operation Oplá (Greek, weapon) in Mato Grosso do Sul, a man with a CAC record was arrested on October 5, in Campo Grande, with four 7.62 caliber rifles, three American-made 9 mm pistols with a burst kit. , ballistic vests and false identifications from the Civil Police.
The weapons, found in the trunk of the car, were stolen and would be handed over to a suspected gang of bank robbers. After the arrest, the State Court issued seven arrest warrants in the capital and in Maracaju, in the interior, against members of the gang, including another allegedly orange CAC.
In July, the PF arrested a man in Uberlândia (MG) who managed, with false CAC documents, to buy seven weapons, including a rifle and two carbines, to deliver to the PCC criminal faction. The accused bought the arsenal even though he was a defendant or investigated in 16 criminal cases and investigations. Among the actions, he was responsible for aggravated homicide, robbery, drug trafficking and illegal possession of a firearm.
Last month, Operation Armado Registration carried out arrest warrants against Brazilian Army dispatchers who were defrauding the system to illegally obtain registration for shooters and hunters in Goiânia (GO). According to the Army, which collaborated with the operation, the dispatchers were suspended and the CACs lost their records.
On the other hand, Operation Confessio, carried out in February this year, in Rio de Janeiro, dismantled a document fraud scheme to circumvent inspection and control in the sale of firearms. The gang even falsified documents used in the process of purchasing firearms and ammunition by the CACs in commercial establishments.
Supply
For specialist Carolina Ricardo, director of Instituto Sou da Paz, the greater facility given by the government for the acquisition of weapons by CACs created a channel for the supply of weapons that can be used to supply organized crime. “We have seen a certain recurrence of cases of operations in which diversion of weapons made from the possibility of registering as a CAC is identified. We are not criminalizing the category,” she points out.
She reinforces that the number of weapons released for the category attracts criminal interests. “The amount of weapons that a sports shooter can buy, including semi-automatic rifles, and the amount that collectors can buy, all of this has come to be seen as an ease by some criminal groups.”
According to the expert, fraudsters can only register as CAC because the Army, which is responsible for inspecting, does not have the structure to carry out an effective inspection.
“The database is very fragile, so much so that we (NGOs) requested this data and were unable to find out how many 9 mm pistols are registered, for example, by municipality. This intelligence, about the data that the Army could generate and does not generate due to lack of structure, is necessary.”
The Ministry of Justice and the army did not comment on the matter on Friday. On other occasions, the Army highlighted the enforcement effort and collaboration with investigative authorities in cases of violation of the rules.
The information is from the newspaper. The State of São Paulo.
Source: CNN Brasil
