Brazil's Federal Prosecutor's Office (MPF) has charged 12 people accused of belonging to a criminal organization led by a family from Governador Valadares, a city in Minas Gerais state known as a longtime hub of Brazilian emigration to the United States, that specialized in smuggling Brazilians into the country. Investigators found that between 2017 and 2023 the group arranged the crossing of at least 673 people, making it one of the largest migrant smuggling schemes ever recorded in Brazil. The charges were filed in court last week, and the 12 defendants remain free while awaiting trial.
According to the MPF, the group charged between R$ 50,000 and R$ 100,000 per person for the clandestine journey and moved more than R$ 40 million in total. The defendants face charges of transnational criminal organization, migrant smuggling, use of false documents and money laundering.
Prosecutors say two brothers ran the scheme, in charge of recruiting victims and escorting them to the Mexico-US border. Their father also took part, while other relatives laundered the proceeds: five of the 12 defendants belong to the same family. Investigators mapped more than 300 bank transfers made directly by victims to the brothers, with the money moving through accounts opened with false documents or in the names of third parties.
Forced thank-you videos and coerced debts
According to the MPF, migrants were forced to record video testimonials thanking and praising the service, material later used to convince new victims. On top of the fee, the group demanded that migrants hand over vehicles, sign promissory notes and debt confession statements, and grant powers of attorney allowing properties to be sold in favor of scheme operators. Adults were also encouraged to cross the border with children to reduce the risk of deportation once in the United States. At least 223 of the migrants were minors, according to Operation Siblings, the Federal Police investigation that uncovered the case.
Operation Siblings served 14 search and seizure warrants, 11 of them in Governador Valadares, two in Espírito Santo state and one in the Federal District, according to CNN Brasil. Courts also ordered 11 precautionary measures, including arrests and passport seizures, as well as the freezing of assets that could reach R$ 43 million. Two people were arrested in flagrante during the raids, one for illegal possession of ammunition and another for resisting, and police seized documents, cash, jewelry and vehicles.
According to the Federal Police, the organization had specialized cells for recruiting migrants, buying plane tickets, booking hotels, forging public documents and opening bank accounts in the names of third parties. Police estimate the group brokered the journey of 669 migrants to the United States via Mexico and that more than 1,500 people, including minors, fell victim to the scheme. The force called it the largest migrant smuggling operation it has carried out in Governador Valadares by number of victims, and combined sentences for the crimes under investigation could exceed 33 years in prison.