The Rio de Janeiro Civil Police carries out an operation, on the morning of Thursday (24), against an interstate gang that stole energy cables. So far, five people have been arrested.
The Copper Paths Operation is coordinated by the theft and theft police station (DRF), with support from the Paraná Civil Police. Preventive arrest warrants and 46 search and seizure orders are served.
Warrants are fulfilled in the residences of the targets, seven old irons and metallurgists in the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The court also requested the blockade of R $ 200 million in bank accounts and financial assets, as well as the abduction and unavailability of property and real estate.
According to police, the target is a highly structured criminal organization, which specializes in a large -scale crime against public service concessionaires. The gang still practices money laundering through real and fictional companies and simulated contracts.
In all, 22 people have already been denounced for involvement in the scheme. Investigations revealed a sophisticated criminal scheme: the gang stole telecommunications and electricity cables and used recycling companies, linked to the organization’s own leaders to collect the material.
The gang was still washing illicit profits through fractional bank transactions, acquisition of luxury vehicles, issuance of fake invoices and simulation of contracts with real companies.
This is the second phase of Operation Caminhos do Copper. The first stage was triggered in 2022, when the existence of a structured chain of the subtracted goods was revealed, directing efforts to track the reception in old irons.
See images of this Thursday’s operation (24):
How did the thefts occur?
The Rio Civil Police detailed the gang’s criminal scheme. Thefts occurred at dawn, with motorcycle armed scouts linked to drug trafficking to ensure dropout and protection of the operation. The criminals tied the cables to trucks, still causing severe structural damage to underground stations.
The subtracted material was transported to warehouses and old irons in Queimados, in the Baixada Fluminense; at Morro do Fallet, in downtown Rio; and at the Salgueiro Complex in São Gonçalo. All establishments belonged to the leaders of the organization, located in territories dominated by criminal factions.
The group divided revenue with local traffickers, ensuring the protection of the territory. In deposits, cables were bezged, fractionated and burned to eliminate traces of origin. They were then resold to old and metallurgical irons in Rio de Janeiro and, especially, in São Paulo, with the support of intermediaries.
According to police, part of the payments were made with luxury vehicles and another was washed through companies linked to the command nucleus, in the food and communication branches.
Police also say the group leader was also the link with trafficking in the Fallet region. He was an accountant of the local faction, controlling transfers, financial flow and washing via real companies. The man had already been arrested by the Paraná Civil Police for being the connection between drug suppliers in the state of Paraná and Rio de Janeiro.
His wife took the lead after arrest, commanding payments, washing, simulated contracts and business management.
This content was originally published in an interstate gang that stole power cables is the target of operating in RJ on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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