IRS cracks criminal organization dedicated to international cocaine trafficking

The Brazilian IRS has dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to international cocaine trafficking. About 150 federal police and 8 IRS employees participated in the arrests. In all, 36 search-and-seizure warrants, 6 preventive arrest warrants, 4 temporary arrest warrants, and 7 warrants to prohibit economic activity are being fulfilled in the states of São Paulo, Bahia, Mato Grosso, Santa Catarina, Paraná, and Rio Grande do Sul

The warrants were issued by the 6th Federal Court of São Paulo/SP and also include the seizure of 28 real estate properties (located in 4 states), several vehicles (including cars valued at more than R$ 600,000), and the freezing of 53 private and corporate bank accounts (including accounts opened in Portugal and Belgium).

Furthermore, a long-haul ship was seized which belongs to the investigated criminal group and would have been used in the transoceanic transport of cocaine, and a network of gas stations in the State of Bahia has been shut down. Altogether, it is estimated that the assets seized/frozen during the investigation exceed R$ 40,000,000 (forty million reais).

The investigations that began in January 2021 revealed the existence of a criminal organization exporting cocaine to Europe, mainly through transoceanic vessels. It has been proven that the group coordinated the export of 2,700 kg of cocaine in October 2020 from the Port of São Sebastião/SP, using the ship named UNISPIRIT, which had the city of Cadiz/Spain as its final destination. Part of the drug ended up being seized in Brazil (1,500 kg) during a joint inspection by the Brazilian IRS and police, and the other part was seized in Spain (1,200 kg) after communication with authorities in that country.

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