The Civil Police of São Paulo, through the State Department of Criminal Investigations (Deic), is carrying out this Tuesday, the 11th, another phase of operation against the criminal network of counterfeit alcoholic beverages, with warrants being served in at least six Brazilian states.
This is the interstate stage of Operation Poison Source Brasil, which is part of the actions of the São Paulo Government’s crisis office to combat cases of poisoning.
“The objective is to consolidate the mapping and interruption of the activities of the centers involved in the network of production and circulation of counterfeit alcoholic beverages,” said Deic.
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At this stage, 21 search and seizure warrants are being executed simultaneously with the support of local contingents in the following states: Bahia, Goiás, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina.
The operation takes place simultaneously and coordinated with local security forces. So far, two men have been arrested. According to the State Public Security Secretariat, in Nova Iguaçu, in Rio, and in Goiânia, in Goiás, investigators found deposits of bottles that were used to supply beverage suppliers.
The operation is coordinated by police officers from the 1st Divecar Police Station (Robbery and Vehicle Theft Investigations). “The production network began to be discovered during investigations by the 1st Divecar in October this year. On that occasion, one of the main suppliers of containers for counterfeiting alcoholic beverages was arrested”, added Deic.
Brazil has experienced a recent wave of cases of methanol poisoning. According to data released by the Ministry of Health, in total, 104 notifications were registered until October 31st, with 59 confirmed cases and 45 under investigation.
Another 682 notifications were discarded. Among the deaths, 15 had been confirmed as resulting from poisoning and six were under investigation.
