Brazilian police launch operation to tackle drug trafficking through Rio Grande Port

The Federal Police launched Operation Escafandria on Tuesday morning (April 16) to dismantle a criminal organization that is active in international drug trafficking through the Port of Rio Grande.

Federal agents, supported by the Federal Revenue Service, the Navy, and the Military Police, are executing 12 arrest warrants and 26 search and seizure warrants in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná. The operation also involves international police cooperation, with Europol and the German Police participating in executing an arrest warrant abroad.

The investigation began in 2022 after receiving information that a group, comprising members from the city of Rio Grande and the states of Santa Catarina and Paraná, was engaged in drug trafficking activities from the Port of Rio Grande.

Following inquiries and surveillance, the Federal Police discovered that the group was shipping cocaine to other countries, using divers to conceal the drugs in the hulls of vessels.

A shipment of 198 kg of cocaine sent by the group was seized by the Civil Guard of Spain at the Port of Las Palmas in August 2023, on a ship that had departed from the Port of Rio Grande.

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