The internal affairs unit of São Paulo state's Civil Police found 49 sealed cellphones inside a trash bag in a locked room of the 1st police precinct of Barueri, in Greater São Paulo. The discovery, made in October 2024 during an investigation into the diversion of smuggled goods, is part of the case that led a court this Friday (28) to order the preventive detention of two investigators from the precinct, according to reports by Folha de S.Paulo and CNN Brasil.
The internal affairs inspection began after an anonymous tip that civil police officers from the unit had intercepted a shipment of cellphones on a highway and left part of the devices out of the official seizure report. According to CNN Brasil, the tip alleged that the officers demanded R$ 900,000 (about US$ 170,000) to return the merchandise to its owner.
In the office of chief investigator Marcos Vinícius de Souza Melo, internal affairs agents found the 49 devices in the trash bag, with brands and models similar to those of the shipment cited in the complaint, plus six other new cellphones on the desk. In the office gun safe they found R$ 19,577 in cash, an amount with no justification according to the Prosecutor's Office, and two .38 caliber revolvers registered to third parties with no ties to the unit. Melo did not show up at the precinct and, according to Gaeco, the state prosecutors' organized crime task force, he "limited himself to remotely providing the electronic password to his office".
The office of investigator Vagner Ramalho was also locked when the inspectors arrived. Inside, the lights and air conditioning were still on and the computer was unlocked, with WhatsApp Web open. On the desk were the investigator's driver's license, three cellphones and R$ 4,000 in cash, according to CNN Brasil. Ramalho's personal pistol was not found.
"Circumstances capable of indicating the possibility that the investigated officers fled or left the premises in a hurry," Gaeco said.
Operation Merx
The case entered a new phase this Friday (28), when Gaeco launched Operation Merx, which investigates criminal organization, corruption and money laundering involving civil police officers, smugglers and a lawyer. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the officers involved in the scheme charged up to 70% of the value of the goods to release trucks or return part of the seized cargo. The operation served warrants in the states of São Paulo, Paraná and Goiás. In total, seven people were placed under preventive detention, and the courts ordered the freezing and seizure of up to R$ 4 million in assets belonging to those under investigation, as well as the suspension of one investigator from duty.
Judge Djalma Moreira Gomes Júnior, of the Regional Guarantees Court of Osasco, ordered the preventive detention of Melo and Ramalho after concluding that alternative precautionary measures would be insufficient given the seriousness of the facts under investigation and the risk of interference with evidence. Folha and CNN Brasil report that they were unable to locate the lawyers of the two officers, who remain under investigation and are presumed innocent unless convicted. The Prosecutor's Office has not yet filed formal charges in the case, and the Gaeco investigation is still ongoing.