PF arrests 5 for cigarette smuggling in PR and RS
Source: Terra Notícias, 12/08/2009
Federal police in Rio Grande do Sul and Paraná attempted to arrest on Wednesday five suspects of being part of a gang accused of smuggling cigarettes from Paraguay. There were seven remand warrants issued. Operation Pentateuco II aims to dismantle two criminal groups based in the city of Bagé (RS).
One group would transport cigarettes from Foz do Iguaçu (PR) to the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre (RS) and the other, which would provide services to a food company based in Medianeira (PR), would transport cigarettes directly from the city to Bagé.
Today, 15 vehicles were seized, R $ 20, 250 cigarette boxes with 125 packs and 40 kg of coins that have not yet been counted. During the investigation, the PF seized approximately 300 boxes of cigarettes that were transported by the gangs, in addition to R $ 77 thousand and U $ 6 thousand. Eight people were caught in the act.