Brazil arrests 13 in $196M cocaine, crypto laundering ring

Brazilian federal police arrested 13 people and froze about 1 billion reais (roughly $196 million) after Operation Commodity dismantled a trafficking and money-laundering network that exported more than 6.5 tons of cocaine to Europe.

Investigators traced shipments sent since 2021 from the port of Rio de Janeiro. Cocaine was concealed inside consignments of coffee, cement and mortar bound for France, Belgium, Germany, Slovenia and Spain, authorities reported.

Raids and court orders took place this week in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina and Espírito Santo. Officers executed 44 search-and-seizure orders and 13 preventive arrests. Courts approved the seizure and freezing of assets up to 1 billion reais. In one raid a suspect fired on police and was shot; police reported the suspect died of gunshot wounds while resisting.

To move proceeds from drug sales into the formal economy, the group established shell companies and operated a luxury car dealership in Greater São Paulo that sold brands such as Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette and Land Rover. The network issued invoices without supporting documents to justify bank inflows and then converted funds into cryptocurrency to transfer money across accounts and platforms.

Authorities linked the ring to the criminal factions Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho. U.S. authorities have designated elements of those groups as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Investigators also noted a separate action earlier this month, Operation Exchange, targeted a crypto-based laundering network estimated at $2 billion.

The Federal Police wrote in a release: “The suspects will be held accountable, to the extent of their responsibilities, for the crimes of transnational criminal organization, international drug trafficking, and money laundering, without prejudice to any other offenses that may be revealed during the course of the investigations.”

The probe remains active. Forensic analysis of seized records, electronic devices and financial flows is ongoing, and authorities said additional charges or arrests may follow as investigators review evidence.