The Sao Paulo State Prosecutor's Office (MPSP) and the internal affairs division of the Civil Police, the state force in charge of criminal investigations, launched Operation Merx on Friday (28) to look into suspicions that officers used police stations and the force's own systems in a scheme to extort bribes from electronics smugglers in Greater Sao Paulo. According to the investigation, reported by G1 and also carried by Metrópoles, the group allegedly demanded about R$ 2.35 million in at least four documented episodes since 2024. Everyone named is under investigation and is presumed innocent.
The probe is led by Gaeco, the prosecutor's special unit for organized crime, with support from internal affairs and the Civil Police's strategic operations department (Dope). Investigators say the officers used police resources to track shipments of cell phones and other irregular electronics before they were intercepted. Instead of seizing the goods in full, the suspects allegedly demanded cash from the people responsible for the cargo to release part or all of it, charging up to about 70% of the shipment's value. Police facilities were also allegedly used to store merchandise and to register the seizure of only part of the goods, giving the operations an appearance of legality.
Raids on three police stations
On Friday morning, agents served 18 search and seizure warrants, including at three Civil Police units: the precinct in Santana de Parnaiba, the one in Embu das Artes and the 2nd police district of Cotia. A court ordered seven preventive detentions: four against civil police officers Jonathan Vieira, Bruno Moreno, José Nishi and Sidiclei Almeida, one against a lawyer identified as the scheme's intermediary and two against men suspected of running the smuggling. By the latest update from G1, four of the seven targets had been arrested. One of those sought was reportedly in Paraguay and two others had not been located.
A fifth civil police officer, first class, was not ordered arrested but was removed from his public duties. The court ordered the seizure of his credentials for police systems and barred him from contacting other suspects and witnesses. Judges also authorized the lifting of banking and communications secrecy and the freezing of up to R$ 4 million in assets belonging to the suspects.
What each side says
For prosecutors and internal affairs, the facts could in theory amount to passive corruption, active corruption, money laundering and criminal organization. The case timeline starts in 2024, the year of the first documented episodes. After gathering evidence on at least four cases, Gaeco requested the court measures carried out on Friday. G1 says it is trying to reach the suspects' defense lawyers and that space remains open for their response. So far, none of the lawyers has commented publicly on the case.
The next procedural step is the continued search for the three targets still at large, one of them reportedly in Paraguay, which may require international cooperation. Once the warrant phase is complete, it will be up to Gaeco to conclude the investigation and decide whether to file formal charges in court. No date has been announced for that stage.