Brazil's Organised Crime Programme: 67 tonnes of drugs and 473 arrests in 20 days
In 20 days of operation, the federal programme seized 67 tonnes of drugs, 639 firearms and made 473 arrests, according to gov.br.
Federal programme causes R$ 361 million in losses to organised crime in less than a month
The Brasil Contra o Crime Organizado (Brazil Against Organised Crime) Programme completed 20 days of operations with 67 tonnes of drugs seized, 639 firearms seized and 473 people arrested, according to data disclosed by gov.br. The programme, launched by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security with a budgeted allocation of R$ 11.1 billion, operates on four fronts: cutting off funding to criminal factions, regaining control of prisons, improving homicide investigations and dismantling the illegal arms market.
Data from the National Public Security Secretariat (SENASP) indicate that the R$ 30.4 million spent during the period generated R$ 361.3 million in estimated losses to crime — approximately R$ 12 in damage to factions for each R$ 1 invested. The result exceeds by 251% the target established for the first 90 days of the programme.
In the cumulative total for April and May, the actions of SENASP and the Integrated Operations and Intelligence Directorate (DIOPI) resulted in 2,182 arrests in flagrante, in addition to seizures of drugs, firearms and vehicles. The economic damage to crime, excluding the value of drugs, reached R$ 223.54 million. Operations Narke and Renocrim achieved the judicial freezing of R$ 436 million in assets.
The 11th phase of Operation Mute entered 124 prisons with 4,042 prison police officers. A total of 3,728 cells were searched and 680 mobile phones were seized — devices used by faction leaders to command operations from within prisons. Since the start of the operation in 2023, 8,646 mobile phones have already been removed from Brazilian prisons, with the participation of more than 38,000 prison police officers in more than 37,000 searches.
In April alone, the Federal Police approved 128 operations, arrested 849 people in flagrante and carried out 1,371 captures through the Capture Groups. A total of 295 search and seizure warrants were executed. Financial damage to crime reached R$ 272 million. The Federal Police also seized 160 firearms, 4,563 rounds of ammunition, 5.6 tonnes of cocaine and 20.9 tonnes of cannabis during the period.
Border operations, which in 2025 were operating in only seven states, were expanded to all 27 states of the Federation. The programme also advanced across the Amazon, with a focus on seven priority regions and 42 municipalities distributed across six states: Acre, Amazonas, Pará, Maranhão, Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná.
In Asunción, Minister Wellington César Lima e Silva met with Jalil Rachid, head of Paraguay's National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD), to strengthen cooperation in combating trafficking in border regions. Operation Nova Aliança, ongoing since 2012 in partnership with the Federal Police, has accumulated the destruction of 1,218 cultivation camps, the elimination of 11.2 million kilograms of cannabis and R$ 1.6 billion in direct losses to criminal organisations.
Lima also participated in the 55th Meeting of Ministers of the Interior and Security of Mercosur (RMIS) and the 63rd Meeting of Ministers of Justice of the bloc (RMJ), where he presented the programme as Brazil's contribution to regional security. "The stronger the capacity of each Member State, the more resilient our region will be in the face of common threats," the minister stated.
Source: Google News BR — Crime