The Federal Police (PF), through the Regional Superintendency in Paraíba, launched this Tuesday (10), Operation Conexão Paraíba, which aims to dismantle a nucleus of the Italian mafia in the country, specialized in international drug trafficking and money laundering. .
The action, which takes place simultaneously in several cities in Brazil and has international support, seeks to combat the sending of large shipments of cocaine to Europe and dismantle the financial schemes that support criminal activity.
The organization is suspected of moving around R$7 billion between 2018 and 2024. In Paraíba, the operation has already served an arrest warrant and a search warrant in the Jardim Cidade Universitária neighborhood, in João Pessoa.
The operation, coordinated between the Federal Police of Paraíba and Paraná, in addition to having the support of the Italian police, covers several Brazilian cities, such as São Paulo, Guarulhos, Campos do Jordão, Santos (SP), Recife (PE), Parnamirim (RN) and Antonina (PR).
In a press release, the Federal Police also explained that, through companies and bank accounts, those under investigation laundered money from drug trafficking, making the traceability of resources difficult and hiding the illicit origin of the amounts.
This Tuesday, 16 criminal search and seizure warrants and 8 preventive arrest warrants were being executed, targeting members of different Brazilian states. The operation also includes court orders for the freezing of valuables and the seizure of movable and immovable assets related to those involved.
In addition, efforts were made to track drug shipments, which were sent via cargo containers and also by air – in a sophisticated shipping scheme, according to the PF.
International trafficking route
This Tuesday’s operation is an offshoot of investigations that began in 2019, when the arrest of two members of the Italian mafia, in João Pessoa, revealed the strategic role of Paraíba in international drug trafficking, with the region being used as a route to sending cocaine to Europe.
At the time, links were identified between individuals and local organizations with the international structure of organized crime.
Operation Mafiusi
In parallel, this Tuesday, the Federal Police in Paraná also launched Operation Mafiusi, which carries out court orders against the same criminal group being investigated by the Paraíba PF and the Italian police.
The operation has the support of several security forces in Brazil and abroad, in addition to the collaboration of bodies such as Eurojust, Interpol and the Federal Public Ministry.
The action is part of a coordinated effort by the Federal Police to combat international drug trafficking and organized crime, focusing on identifying local and international branches involved in sending narcotics to Europe.
This content was originally published in PF carries out operation to dismantle the core of the Italian mafia in Brazil on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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