Brazil's Federal Police (PF) and state civil police forces launched a nationwide operation on Wednesday (September 2) against crimes of child sexual abuse, with warrants served in all states and the Federal District. At least 44 people were arrested: 31 caught in the act and 13 under pre-trial detention warrants issued by courts. Three teenagers were apprehended and two victims of abuse were identified and rescued.
The operation, named Proteção Integral V (Full Protection V), served 153 search and seizure warrants and mobilized 755 officers, 480 federal and 275 state, according to Folha de S.Paulo. Those targeted are under investigation for storing, sharing, selling or producing material depicting the sexual abuse of children and adolescents. The PF coordinated the action, with direct participation of civil police from 20 of Brazil's state-level units, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Bahia.
Neither of the reports consulted published the names of the detainees. Those caught in the act were arrested during the raids, and the others were targets of warrants issued by judges. All are investigated suspects and, under Brazilian law, are presumed innocent unless convicted. The three teenagers were apprehended rather than arrested because minors in Brazil fall under the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent (ECA), the country's juvenile justice law.
Timeline of the operations
Proteção Integral V follows earlier national operations: phases one through four were launched by the PF and state forces between 2025 and 2026. In March this year the PF also ran Operation Guardião Digital, focused on sexual crimes against children and adolescents in online environments. From January to August 2026, according to the PF, at least 980 arrest warrants were served against fugitives wanted for sexual crimes, a figure that spans several areas of the force's work and is not limited to the Proteção Integral phases.
The PF advised parents and guardians to monitor children's online activity and to talk about the risks of social media, games and apps. The force urged attention to warning signs such as sudden isolation and unusual secrecy around phones and computers.
What comes next
Under Brazil's criminal procedure rules, anyone arrested in the act must be brought before a judge in a custody hearing within 24 hours, when the legality of the arrest and the need to keep the person jailed are reviewed. The 13 people arrested under pre-trial warrants remain at the disposal of the courts that issued the orders. The PF has not announced a date for further phases of the operation.