Overview

• Operation Alquimia targets importers, terminals, chemical companies, distilleries and sugar‑ethanol plants, with samples collected in 21 cities across São Paulo, Paraná, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Santa Catarina.
• The Health Ministry reports 41 confirmed intoxications and eight deaths, with 33 cases and six deaths in São Paulo, four cases in Paraná, three in Pernambuco with two deaths, and one in Rio Grande do Sul.
• São Paulo authorities destroyed more than 100,000 seized bottles from a clandestine warehouse, while civil police statewide have made 57 arrests this year tied to adulterated alcohol.
• Forensic analyses in Pernambuco found some seized bottles contained methanol at concentrations hundreds of times above permitted levels, reinforcing evidence of deliberate contamination.
• The federal response includes a national situation room, expanded lab capacity at CIATox/Unicamp and Fiocruz, and the distribution of the antidote fomepizol to toxicology centers.