São Paulo Police End Mobile Strike With 3 Arrests and 43 Phones Seized in Stolen-Device Crackdown

Overview

• Officers executed 28 search-and-seizure warrants and five temporary arrest orders across São Paulo, Guarulhos, Itaquaquecetuba, Mauá, Suzano and Hortolândia.
• Two men and a woman were detained at a downtown building that housed a bar used as a front for the scheme, and 11 others were taken to DEIC to give statements.
• Seizures included 43 phones, a luxury vehicle, a replica firearm, watches, jewelry, eight helmets and a thermal bag allegedly used to block device tracking.
• Roughly 110 civil police took part in the Mobile Strike phase, the second step in a broader campaign against the resale networks that sustain phone thefts.
• Investigators say the organization had defined roles from robbers to resellers and shipped devices abroad, moving an estimated 20 to 30 stolen phones per day.