São Paulo: Prosecutors in the state of São Paulo are investigating a group of civil police officers suspected of taking bribes to facilitate smuggling schemes. According to the probe, the officers staged seizures of illicit goods and escorted high-value cargo using the force's own patrol cars. The case became public on Friday (August 28), when an operation was launched to investigate passive and active corruption and money laundering, with the civil police internal affairs unit taking part in the raids.

According to Folha de S.Paulo, a judge ordered pretrial detention, with no set end date, for seven people, four of them civil police officers, and authorized searches at 18 addresses. The targets include the police stations of Embu das Artes and Santana de Parnaíba and the 2nd police district of Cotia, all in Greater São Paulo. G1 reported that three civil police officers were arrested during the operation.

The investigation is run by Gaeco, the organized crime task force of the state prosecutor's office. It began in December 2024, after the Federal Police arrested Thiago Marcel Magnabosco, identified as the leader of a criminal organization specialized in smuggling and tax evasion. Messages stored on his phone, prosecutors say, connect the scheme to São Paulo civil police officers.

Timeline of the case

• June 2024: a truck carrying around R$ 600,000 in smuggled goods was stopped by the civil police and placed in the custody of officers Bruno Moreno dos Santos and José Adriano da Silva Nishi. According to Gaeco, the pair charged R$ 400,000 to release the cargo.
• July and August 2024: similar episodes took place, this time with lawyer Sidiclei da Costa Almeida, identified as the bribe intermediary between the gang and the officers.
• December 2024: Gaeco opens its investigation after Magnabosco's arrest by the Federal Police.
• August 28, 2026: the operation is launched, with pretrial detentions ordered and searches at 18 addresses.

Besides Santos and Nishi, who had their pretrial detention ordered, the other two civil police officers named as targets are Vagner Ramalho and Marcos Vinícius de Souza Melo. All remain suspects under investigation and are entitled to the presumption of innocence. Folha said it could not locate the suspects' defense lawyers on Friday.

One of the files attached to the inquiry, reproduced by the press, shows a civil police patrol car allegedly escorting smuggled goods. The image was found with one of the suspects. As next steps, those detained must go through custody hearings, and Gaeco continues its investigative work. The prosecutor's office has not said whether or when it intends to file formal charges against the suspects.