Diário de S. Paulo, 05/06/2005

The State Highway Police seized yesterday morning five trucks that had left the port of Santos and were part of a convoy of 12 tanks, with 500 thousand liters of solvent. The inspectors of the Secretariat of Finance received a complaint that the product would be diverted from its original destination to be sold as gasoline. On Friday night, another police operation found 200 liters of a chemical mixture that would also be sold as gasoline to stations in São Paulo. The solvent was seized at a chemical company in Barueri, in Greater São Paulo. The five carts were intercepted on Via Anchieta. The seized product can be used in the manufacture of paint and adulteration of fuel. According to the police, the tampering was being carried out in chemical companies used as a front by clandestine distributors.

Barueri

The transportation of the solvent and the delivery of the fake gasoline to the gas stations would be done on the weekends. The police are now trying to locate seven other trucks that were part of the train that left the port. According to the delegate of Deic, Albano David Fernandes, the company has the capacity to manufacture up to 800 thousand liters per day. Three trucks, with 50 thousand liters of solvents each, were also seized. Five people were arrested. Two months ago, the police were investigating the company Aldebarã Comercial Química Ltda., Located in the Jardim Mutinga neighborhood, on the outskirts of Barueri. Five people who were at the scene were taken to the police station where they testified and were later released. The company can be closed.