The São Paulo State Prosecutor's Office launched Operation Merx on Friday (Aug 28) targeting a scheme in which civil police officers allegedly staged fake seizures of illegal goods and escorted smuggled cargo in exchange for bribes. A judge ordered the pretrial detention of seven people, four of them civil police officers, and authorized searches at 18 addresses, including three police stations in Greater São Paulo: the precincts of Embu das Artes and Santana de Parnaíba and the 2nd Police District of Cotia.

The investigation is led by the Gaeco, the organized crime task force of the state prosecutor's office, with the Civil Police internal affairs division taking part and tactical support from the police strategic operations department (Dope). Prosecutors are investigating passive and active corruption, money laundering and criminal organization. According to the MP, officers intercepted shipments of cellphones and other electronics of irregular origin and, instead of formally seizing the goods, charged those responsible for the cargo up to roughly 70% of its value to release it, in full or in part. In at least four documented episodes since 2024, the bribes allegedly totaled R$ 2.35 million (about US$ 430,000).

According to the investigation, the police force's own structure was used in the scheme: corporation systems allegedly served to monitor the shipments to be intercepted, and police station facilities were used to store merchandise and to register the seizure of only part of the goods, giving the operations an appearance of legality. An image attached to the case file, found with one of the suspects, shows a Civil Police vehicle in an alleged escort of smuggled products, according to Folha de S.Paulo.

How the case unfolded

• June 17, 2024: a truck carrying about R$ 600,000 in smuggled goods is stopped by the Civil Police. According to the Gaeco, officers Bruno Moreno dos Santos and José Adriano da Silva Nishi charged R$ 400,000 to release the cargo, and only part of the merchandise was formally seized;
• July and August 2024: similar episodes take place, involving lawyer Sidiclei da Costa Almeida, identified as the middleman for bribes between the gang and the police officers;
• December 2024: Thiago Marcel Magnabosco, identified as the leader of an organization specialized in smuggling and tax evasion, is arrested by the Federal Police. Messages found on his phone connect the scheme to São Paulo civil police officers and trigger the Gaeco investigation;
• August 28, 2026: Operation Merx carries out arrest and search warrants in the states of São Paulo, Paraná and Goiás.

Besides Santos and Nishi, pretrial detention was ordered for civil police officers Vagner Ramalho and Marcos Vinícius de Souza Melo, lawyer Sidiclei, businessman Jonathan Renan Vieira of Paraná, and Magnabosco himself, who is considered a fugitive and is believed by investigators to be in Paraguay. According to G1, at least four of the seven targets had been arrested by the operation's latest update. A fifth officer, investigator Vagner de Lima, was not ordered jailed but was removed from duty, had his credentials to access police systems seized and is barred from contacting suspects and witnesses.

The court also authorized the lifting of bank and communications secrecy and ordered the freezing of up to R$ 4 million in assets belonging to the suspects. On the financial front, the Gaeco identified transfers to the company Rivieira Soluções em Tecnologias Ltda. and to third parties allegedly used as fronts to receive and conceal the money paid to the officers.

All of those named are suspects under investigation, and no one has been convicted. Folha reported it could not identify the suspects' defense lawyers on Friday, and G1 said it is trying to reach the attorneys, with space open for their response.

The next procedural step is the continuation of the Gaeco investigation, which may file formal charges once the inquiry is complete. The prosecutor's office has not announced a deadline. The pretrial detentions ordered on Friday have no set end date and must be reviewed periodically by the courts, as required by Brazil's Code of Criminal Procedure.