Brazilian police dismantle $2B PCC crypto laundering ring
Federal Police launched Operation Exchange, executing 24 warrants in São Paulo to disrupt a PCC-linked crypto and cash laundering ring that moved nearly $2 billion.
On Friday, Brazil’s Federal Police launched Operation Exchange, deploying more than 50 officers who executed 13 search-and-seizure warrants and 11 temporary arrest warrants across the state of São Paulo.
Investigators say the network used a structured system that mixed cryptocurrency transfers, large banking transactions and cash couriers to move funds between Florida and Brazil. Authorities estimate the scheme moved nearly $2 billion. No cryptocurrency exchange has been identified and the investigation remains active.
On July 1, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control designated two suspected members, Victor Henrique de Oliveira Shimada and Stella Stefanie Nunes Henrique de Oliveira, and four companies in Brazil and Portugal for links to the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). The U.S. Treasury described Shimada as “a key link” who helped launder more than $30 million using cryptocurrency. Brazilian authorities have detained Nunes Henrique; Shimada is a fugitive.
Federal Police chief Andrei Rodrigues told reporters that the U.S. designation was not coordinated with Brazilian investigators and affected the timing of the raids. He said the public listing damaged the inquiry and allowed a key suspect to escape, adding, “Actually, if there hadn’t been this designation, maybe the outcome would be different, and we could have located this person. There was damage to our investigation.”
Investigators described a financial pipeline running through Florida that facilitated transfers to Brazil. Officers detained one suspect linked to that route during Operation Exchange; other targets remain at large and searches continue.
Authorities described the laundering process as blending smaller user transactions with larger transfers and moving cash across borders to obscure the money trail.
The operation follows a U.S. decision in May to designate PCC and Comando Vermelho as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Brazilian federal authorities plan to continue the probe to identify additional participants, trace financial flows and determine any institutional or corporate links to the scheme.
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