Police investigate organization that sold stolen cell phones in Rio

Agents from the 5th Civil Police Station of Rio are, today (15), in the streets of municipalities in the state to execute 19 arrest warrants and 17 search and seizure warrants in Operation Direct Connection, which resulted from the complaint presented by the Specialized Action Group of Combating Organized Crime by the Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Gaeco/MPRJ) against a criminal organization specializing in the sale of stolen or tampered cell phones. According to the State Secretariat of Civil Police, until shortly after 9 am, seven people had been arrested. The warrants issued by the 2nd Specialized Court are being carried out in the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro in São Gonçalo, Duque de Caxias, Magé, Japeri, Nova Iguaçu, and Mesquita, in Baixada Fluminense, and Arraial do Cabo, in the Lagos region. Criminals are accused of crimes of criminal organization, embezzlement and qualified reception. According to the MPRJ, the investigation identified several victims and the way in which the criminals acted. According to the complaint, the criminals advertised Apple-branded cell phones on the OLX shopping site and arranged to meet for sale at busy points in the city, usually at subway stations located downtown. “On site, they delivered the device with spurious invoices and consummated the deal, even using a card machine”, he added. Cell phones sold were the result of counterfeit and blocked robbery crimes. According to the MPRJ, after realizing that they had been harmed, the victims were no longer able to make contact with the criminals. “To inspire more confidence in the victims, the accused delivered false invoices from official Apple stores, in addition to cell phone accessories, such as headphones and chargers”, he revealed. The complaint, which was offered in January, indicates that the criminals repeated the same invoice models and IMEI numbers, a kind of device identification code. For the prosecutors, this means that “the crimes derive from the same organizational trunk”. Risks The holder of the 5th DP, delegate Deoclécio Assis, responsible for the operation, drew attention to the risks of this type of crime, which buyers often do not even know they are committing. “By buying a mobile phone without an invoice, of dubious origin, the citizen may be committing the crime of receiving it. This type of purchase, which seems advantageous at the price below that practiced on the market, feeds an entire criminal chain and may have cost the life of a victim, ”he warned.

Agência Brasil