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

Overview

• Officers executed 91 search warrants and 11 preventive arrests across Santa Catarina and five other states under Operação Rescaldo.
• Authorities seized more than R$400,000 in cash, drugs, weapons and eight luxury vehicles, with six people detained by early afternoon and a 22-year-old arrested for illegal gun possession.
• Courts ordered the freezing of assets valued at about R$500 million, including 28 properties and two farms in Amazonas, and blocked bank accounts of eight suspects.
• The probe has run for roughly two years, identifying 17 suspects and 32 companies tied to the laundering network, and mobilizing about 240 civil police officers.
• Police reported finding banknotes hung on a clothesline in Joinville to dry after “hygienization,” illustrating how cash was prepared for reintroduction into circulation.