Source: Diário de Natal Online - Natal / RN - 20/10/2010

A joint operation between the Federal, Federal Highway, Civil and Military police, in addition to the Federal Revenue Service, managed to break up in the city of Patos a gang that acted in cargo theft and cigarette smuggling with branches in the states of Paraíba, Ceará and Rio Grande do North. In the operation called Catenga, 11 arrest warrants were carried out.

All arrests took place in the city of Patos and the Federal Police seized approximately 10 counterfeit cigarette cases. During the action, three military police officers were arrested in the 3rd Battalion of Military Police of Patos. One of them, José Tarcísio Mendes Gomes, is appointed as the leader of the gang. The other two, Ewerton Carvalho Barbosa and Rubenilton dos Santos Barbosa, served as scouts to facilitate the passage of goods, the result of cargo theft or smuggling from Paraguay, which came from São Paulo and Paraná camouflaged in trucks loaded with fruits and vegetables.

All material had as its final destination the city of Patos and were transported in trucks that were prepared to hide illicit cargo. “They put cigarettes in trucks together with fruits and vegetables to disguise the inspection. The military police used the function of public security authority to circumvent the inspectors and pass, without any problem, on the existing barriers on the roads ”, added Paulo Henrique de Lima, PF delegate. Arriving in Patos, the products were stored in the houses belonging to the group and distributed to several commercial regions of Paraíba, Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará.

According to the Federal Police, products were obtained in various ways. One of them was the import of cigarettes from Paraguay, however, the gang also carried out robberies against deposits by companies and sold the material with fake stamps from the IRS.

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Investigation

The Federal Police began investigating the group in September 2008 after the seizure of contraband cigarettes in the municipality of Pombal, in the Sertão Paraibano

Scheme

The products were stolen from regular companies in assaults against drivers or the result of smuggling from Paraguay. Cigarettes were brought from the states of Paraná and São Paulo in trucks that transported fruits and vegetables. Upon arriving in Patos it was distributed to several cities in CE, RN and PB.

Cops

The gang was led by military police officer José Tarcísio Mendes Gomes, with the participation of two more police officers. They were responsible for circumventing road inspections in order to let the material pass.

Seals

During the operation, the Federal Police learned about 20 smuggled cigarette cases, in addition to a Fiat Doblô, two motorcycles and a truck, among other objects. The general balance sheet will be released today.