Source: Reserved Document - PR, 09/07/2009

In June, the Federal Revenue seized, on the border between Brazil and Paraguay, US $ 6,88 million in goods and smuggled vehicles, an increase of 8% compared to the same period last year, according to a balance sheet released by the agency yesterday in Foz do Iguaçu. In the first six months of 2009, seizures in the region totaled $ 34,2 million in goods and vehicles. Compared to the same period last year, there was a 10% drop. This increase is a consequence of the various operations carried out simultaneously in the entire Foz and Guaíra region, where reinforcements have been deployed and inspection has been intensified. According to the IRS, the servers are inspecting all vehicles passing through the ferry in Guaíra. There are, on average, six daily trips and 20 cars pass through each of them. The joint action of the Federal Revenue Service, the Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police made the value of the seizures in June reach US $ 1 million, which represents an increase of 60% compared to the same month in 2008. In total, 234 were seized automobiles, totaling US $ 2,38 million. Also noteworthy are the seizures of electronics, which reach US $ 1,027 million, of information technology, with an increase of 3% in relation to the same month of 2008, and of cigarettes, which totaled US $ 832,6 thousand, with an increase of 91 % over the same period in 2008 and 19% in relation to the accumulated for the year.