PF targets gang that sent cocaine abroad in cargo of wood

This Thursday (13), the Federal Police and the Federal Revenue launched Operation Woodpecker to investigate a group suspected of international drug trafficking. According to the investigators, the members concealed shipments of cocaine in shipments of wood for export, leaving the country through the Port of Paranaguá. Investigators account for at least five drug seizures linked to the activities of this group, totaling more than 3 tons of cocaine. Federal Police and Federal Recita in Operation Woodpecker – Federal Police/PR According to the PF, the members of the criminal group were linked to a container transport company that took loads of wood to the Port of Paranaguá to be exported. “In this condition, the investigated manipulated the entry schedules of the company’s trucks in the port, with the intention of delaying the unloading of the containers. In the meantime, he concealed the shipments of cocaine inside the loads of wood,” the PF said in a note. According to the investigators, the delay in unloading the containers was intended to “buy time for them to carry out the criminal action, being taken to places where they were opened, the wooden pallets dismantled and the boards sawn for the preparation of the hidden compartments and packaging of the damn it”. Afterwards, the boards were bent again, the pallets were reassembled and the container was taken to the port to be sent abroad. “This is a criminal method with very harmful consequences for foreign trade and for reputable companies that operate in this activity, as they damage the licit load for dissimulated placement of the drug”, added the PF. Drugs were accommodated in loads of wood – Federal Police/PR Seven temporary arrest warrants and nine search and seizure warrants are being carried out in the cities of Paranaguá and Pontal do Paraná, both in Paraná; in Balneário Camboriú (SC); and in Guarujá (SP). Suspects and companies had assets and real estate seized, in addition to the blocking of assets, resources and financial investments. If the suspicions are confirmed, those investigated may be liable for the crimes of criminal organization, international drug trafficking and association for the purpose of trafficking, with penalties that can reach 50 years of imprisonment.

Agência Brasil