About 350 truck drivers participated, this Monday (15), in the capital of Rio de Janeiro, in a demonstration against cargo theft. According to data from the state’s Public Security Institute (ISP), last year 4,229 cases were registered. Between January and March 2023, 1117 occurred, while in the same period of the previous year there were 1018, which represents an increase of 9.7%. In the last month of March alone, there were 490 cases, which, compared to the result of 2022, mean a rise of 44.10%. The trucks taken to the demonstration carried banners showing the apprehension of the category: “Cargo theft: 3 drivers have already died. How many more still need to die? Another banner displayed: “Cargo theft: it attacks society, generates more unemployment and more expensive products for the population”. The concentration of truck drivers was on Avenida Brasil, near Mercado São Sebastião, in Penha, in the north of Rio. The demonstration followed in a motorcade and, at Pavuna, they made a return on Presidente Dutra Highway, continuing in the opposite direction from Avenida Brasil to the Caju neighborhood, in the port area. From there, the trucks returned to the starting point. Organization The director-president of Logística Brasil- Associação Brasileira dos Users dois Portos, de Transportes e de Logística, André de Seixas, in addition to the entity, the demonstration, which lasted five hours, was organized by road transport companies, with the participation of truckers. The intention was to draw attention to the situation that is getting worse every day with cases of cargo theft in Rio de Janeiro. “The protest was very successful. It did not stop traffic, it was done in an orderly manner, we respect people, we did not stop Avenida Brasil. Everything flowed as it had to and the protest was registered. That’s what we wanted, for the press to shed light on cargo theft, he said, in an interview with Agência Brasil. In Seixas’ assessment, the characteristic of crime in Rio influences the practice of this type of crime. “São Paulo has a dominant faction. And if the police invade what they call the hood, the faction retreats and, with the police leaving, it returns because it knows that no faction is going to take the space. In Rio, there are many factions. If the police enter and the faction retreats, another one can go and take over the territory. This is the problem of Rio de Janeiro. It’s a territorial issue,” he said. Equipped police For the transporter, faced with the intense action of criminals, the police need to be better equipped, because the strategy of criminality is to take vehicles into communities. According to him, although he has been acting in the fight against cargo theft, the police work is not complete due to the effectiveness of Action for Non-Compliance with Fundamental Precepts (ADPF) 635. Moved by the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), the action took the Minister Edson Fachin, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), during the pandemic period, in 2020, to restrict police operations in Rio communities, which are now allowed only in exceptional situations. Seixas said that criminality is mounting within communities as a result of cargo theft. “They have warehouses, with forklifts and a logistical system, and the profile of cargo theft is changing little by little, he adds.” Before, the fruits of thefts sold on trains were cookies, chocolate, rice, a cheaper appliance, but The profile of cargo theft is starting to enter the industrial input. “Two examples are ferrosilicon and polyethylene, inputs for industry. There’s a big receiver over there,” he added. Despite considering that the police have also been acting on the combating receivers with intelligence actions, commented that the work sometimes comes up against the difficulty of proving the link between a businessman and the stolen product, aggravated by the fact that the penalty for receiving is very lenient. also to seek meetings in the legislature and has already made contact with the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj) to schedule a hearing to discuss the problem. other spheres of power. “This has to involve our Judiciary, the Public Ministry, Alerj, the State government, the Executive. The police are already directly involved. Our caucus, in Brasilia, has to act on this, the deputies have to unite around Rio de Janeiro”, he commented. The CEO outlined a worrying scenario if the problem is not resolved in a short time. “Things are going down a path where the time will come when vehicles will not be able to transport cargo, because no one will want to risk their lives. We are moving towards this, it is the next step, it will run out of fuel, there is no way to leave”, he warned. CET-Rio The truck drivers’ route was accompanied by teams from the Rio Traffic Engineering Company (CET-Rio), which confirmed the lack of interference in the flow of vehicles. At the same time, there was a demonstration in the city of app drivers on Avenida Presidente Vargas, in the center, towards Praça da Bandeira, in the north zone. “Both demonstrations are accompanied by military police and CET-Rio operators. It should be noted that the Operations Center was aware of the protests, and, therefore, dedicated exclusive operators in the early hours of the morning to monitor the two events”, he informed. According to the State Secretariat of the Military Police, the monitoring of the truck drivers’ demonstration was carried out by teams from the Policing Battalion on Expressways (BPVE).
Agência Brasil
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