Author: Diego Mendes

Source: Folha de Pernambuco - Recife / PE - POLICE - 04/06/2010

During a routine patrol, police officers at 17 ° BPM discovered a cigarette smuggling scheme early yesterday morning. The PMs passed by kilometer 48 of the federal highway BR-101 Norte, in the municipality of Abreu e Lima, when they observed some people in a Honda Civic parked in front of an electrical supply store. Finding the attitude suspicious, the military went to approach, but the occupants of the car managed to escape. Despite the escape of the occupants of the Civic, plate NQD-9610, from João Pessoa, the PMs entered the parking lot of the electrical supply store, made an inspection and found eight people and two trucks. In one of the vehicles, there were about 500 cigarette boxes of the US brand, which is brought from Paraguay, without invoice. The irregular merchandise was sharing the chest with a load of vegetables, in an attempt to circumvent the inspection. According to the PMs, the detainees tried to hide under the vehicles. “When we entered the parking lot, it was a rush. There were people everywhere, ”said soldier Glauco César, who participated in the operation. According to the calculation made by the 17th BPM, the cigarette that was in the DTE-5398 plate truck, in São Paulo, would be transported to the other plate GWI-1752, also from São Paulo, and then it would be distributed in the Metropolitan Region of Recife (RMR).

At first, all those involved were taken on duty at the Paulista Police Station, but then the case was passed on to the Federal Police, since it is a smuggled cargo, that is, it entered Brazil illegally. The driver, who brought the cigarettes from São Paulo, said he was unaware of what was being transported. "I picked up the cargo at a gas station and didn't know what was inside," he said. One of the detainees explained to the police that the cigarettes would be taken to traders at the São José Market in Recife. Among those detained were a teenager and seven adults, six of whom were released. The only person arrested was Clécio Moura dos Santos, 22, accused of smuggling.

The day before yesterday, a broken truck on the side of a highway caught the attention of federal highway policemen. The highway police decided to tow the BR-424 vehicle and drive it to the Garanhuns post. That's when the unnamed driver jumped out of the truck and fled down the road without being reached. Upon inspecting the vehicle, highway officers discovered a hidden cargo containing 225 boxes of smuggled cigarettes from Paraguay, totaling 112, 5 cigarettes. Both the product and the vehicle were collected at the Federal Police headquarters in Caruaru. The federal highway police also found that the merchandise had no invoice. On top of the cigarettes were several empty fruit boxes, probably, to evade some inspection.