Author: Allan de Abreu

Source: Diarioweb - São José do Rio Preto / SP - 16/06/2010

Thomas Vita Neto

 
Police with goods: electronics dominate seizures

Seizures of swag on the stretch of highway BR-153 that cuts through the region have grown. There were 25 occurrences from January to May this year, against just seven in the same period last year, according to the Federal Highway Police. For the corporation, the increase is due to the creation, at the end of 2009, of a team specialized in combating smuggling and drug trafficking. “Before, the police officer without specialization missed a lot. Now this is over. The team is trained to 'sweep' the vehicle in search of illicit material ”, says Highway Police inspector José Zanin Júnior.

In addition to being more frequent, blouses have encountered more sophisticated products - while the seizures of 2009 were limited to packs of cigarettes and toys, this year's range from notebooks to cell phones, including medicines. The goods caught this year - 105 thousand packs of cigarettes, 100 notebooks, 465 cell phones and 300 pills of sexual stimulant - are valued at R $ 300 thousand.

Hiding places are the most unlikely. On May 23, the Federal Highway Police found 450 cell phones hidden inside the fuel tank of an S-10 truck. “The artifices of these groups are as varied as possible”, says inspector Edson Varanda. The corporation did not inform the number of members of the specialized group, called Tactical Team.

“Smugglers have invested in electronics because the added value is greater and they are easier to hide. Cigarette packs take up a lot of space, and you can see it ”, says Pérsio de Jesus Júnior, head of the Special Customs Repression Force (Beast), a group created this year by the Federal Revenue to combat smuggling and embezzlement in the region.

In Rio Preto, according to Pérsio, stores “heat up” computers and cell phones with cold invoices. "As the note does not discriminate the serial number of the computer, with one paper it is possible to sell several machines", says the Revenue official.

Breadwinner

Despite more intense inspection this year, the sacoleiros take a risk. “I have several friends who bring computers and cell phones from Ciudad del Este (Paraguay),” says OC, a bag owner from Rio Preto who buys perfumes in the neighboring country. "It is very frightening for the police, but it is our livelihood."

Rio Preto is the final destination of part of the contraband - the Highway Police did not know how to estimate percentages. But it is also a transit route for sacoleiros from Minas Gerais, Goiás and Bahia. “There are several small groups with interests in different types of merchandise. They are usually store owners who risk themselves to Paraguay, ”says Zanin Júnior.

Nobody knows how to estimate the volume of goods that passes through Transbrasiliana. According to the IRS, it has been increasingly common to bring cable TV receivers and sound amplifiers from Paraguay. “This is the fashion nowadays among sacoleiros”, says Pérsio.

Production

All seized material is forwarded to the IRS. Products such as cigarettes, drugs and glasses are destroyed. Computers, cell phones and electronic games are donated, incorporated by the Revenue or auctioned. Flagrant arrests are rare, but the sacoleiro responds to a lawsuit in the Federal Court for smuggling (when he brings goods that are prohibited to be imported, such as cigarettes and medicines) or embezzlement (when importing products without paying taxes). The sentence varies from one to four years in prison.