Police Seize 30 Pistols on Tourist Bus Bound for Rio in Operação Contenção

Officers intercepted a tourist bus at the Nhangapi fiscal post in Itatiaia on Nov. 11 and found 30 pistols and 63 magazines. The cache, concealed inside cushions in the luggage compartment, had departed from the Brás neighborhood of São Paulo, investigators said. Gilmara Barbosa dos Reis Assis was arrested in flagrante and booked under Brazil’s Estatuto do Desarmamento. Police say she was hired by an intermediary to bring the weapons to Rio, where an app-based driver would collect them for delivery to the Complexo do Alemão controlled by Comando Vermelho. The operation, led by the Civil Police’s arms unit with support from Operação Foco and the 17th Precinct, continues as investigators pursue other participants and examine the trafficking network’s logistics.