This Wednesday morning (20), the Federal Police (PF) served five arrest warrants and 61 search and seizure warrants against those being investigated for illegal gold extraction.
There are three simultaneous operations in Roraima, Amazonas, Pará, Rio Grande do Norte, São Paulo, Goiás, Minas Gerais and the Federal District.
El Dorado
One of the operations, called Eldorado, aims to arrest suspects of leading the smuggling and sale of gold extracted from illegal mines. This gang alone would have generated almost R$6 billion in recent years.
There are 40 search and seizure warrants and 2 arrest warrants.
The scheme would involve the smuggling of Venezuelan gold, which would enter Brazil clandestinely as payment for the export of food through markets in Roraima and Amazonas.
According to investigations, contracted transport companies hid smuggled gold in trucks, which entered Brazil without paying taxes.
Subsequently, the ore would be purchased by other members of the scheme and sent to companies operating in the field of gold ore exploration, responsible for making payments to supermarkets and food distributors.
According to the investigation, the main people investigated in this scheme were also involved in the clandestine exploration of ore in Yanomami Indigenous Lands and in mining sites spread across other states.
In addition to the arrest and search warrants, the Court also determined the unavailability of financial assets, vehicles and aircraft of those being investigated.
Gold for Europe
The second operation, called Emboabas, identified evidence of gold smuggling going from Brazil to Europe.
16 search warrants and 2 preventive arrest warrants were executed, in addition to the freezing of assets totaling more than R$5.7 billion.
The PF identified evidence of gold smuggling to Europe after the arrest in the act of a person who was transporting 35 kg of gold and intended to deliver it to two North Americans, partners in a company in New York.
The investigation pointed out that the main target carries out the heating of gold through an Austrian who became a naturalized Brazilian and claims to have more than R$20 billion in gold bars in a supposed independent country created by the person being investigated.
The investigation revealed that the criminal organization acquires gold from indigenous lands and riverbeds using dredgers and, through fraud, declares that the gold was extracted using regularly established gold mining permits (PLG).
False documents
“Operation Lupi”, coordinated by the Tocantins PF, carries out five search and seizure warrants and one preventive arrest warrant.
During the investigation, the Federal Police identified the existence of a group, whose way of acting would involve the following illegal activities: extraction of ore in prohibited areas, ideological falsehood, money laundering and subsequent activities, transportation, commercialization and export of illegal gold.
The police are investigating the hypothesis that gold illegally extracted from indigenous reserves and federal conservation units was also being “warmed up” with false documents, in which the group declared an origin other than the real one, as if the metal had been extracted from an authorized area.
Based on the legal measures carried out today, the Federal Police intends to identify the main parties involved in the export of illegal gold, other members of the criminal organization, recover financial assets and stop the group’s activities.
Balance
- Warrants served: AM, GO, SP, MG, RN, PA, RR, DF
- Names of operations: Eldorado, from Roraima; Emboabas, from Amazonas; and Lupi, from Tocantins
- Preventive arrests: 5
- Search warrants: 61
Source: CNN Brasil
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