Santa Catarina Police Freeze R$500 Million in Multi-State Money-Laundering Raids

Overview

• Operation Rescaldo executed 91 search warrants and 11 preventive arrest warrants across Santa Catarina and five other states with about 240 officers deployed.
• Police report six arrests, including one in flagrante for drug trafficking and a 22-year-old detained for illegal possession of a firearm.
• Seizures include more than R$ 400,000 in cash — with banknotes found drying on a clothesline — plus three firearms, ammunition and eight luxury vehicles.
• A court ordered the precautionary blocking of R$ 500 million in assets, covering 28 properties, including two Amazonas farms valued at over R$ 100 million.
• Authorities say 17 people and 32 companies are under investigation, eight suspects had bank accounts frozen, and identified purchases exceed R$ 10 million.