Source: O Globo Online - RJ - 08/10/2009

RPC Portal

CURITIBA - A cart with license plates from Santa Catarina was apprehended, this Thursday morning, by the Federal Highway Police (PRF) in Cascavel, in western Paraná. The vehicle's trunk was packed with about a thousand boxes of smuggled cigarettes from Paraguay. The driver, whose name was not released, was arrested in the act.

The arrest took place around 8 am, at km 580 of BR-277 towards Curitiba. According to the PRF, in the trunk of the truck there were three rows of apple boxes. When the police removed the apples, they discovered the large amount of cigarette hidden in the bottom of the truck's cargo compartment.

Also on Thursday, the Federal Police (PF) seized several smuggled products from Paraguay inside a pension, near the Cascavel bus terminal. Among the products were socks, glasses, toys, cell phones and several other electronics. The contraband was stocked in rooms at the boardinghouse and would later be shipped to the rest of the country.

All material was seized and forwarded to the IRS.