The Federal Police on Tuesday launched an operation against a criminal ring of state police officers in the Northeastern states of Bahia and Pernambuco that were specialized in selling guns and ammunition to organized crime.
According to a statement, around 320 feds, state police officers, prosecutors, and Army officials participated in today’s operation, carrying out 20 arrest warrants and 33 search and seizure warrants in three states. Furthermore, up to BRL 10 million (USD 1.9 million) in assets were frozen. Three gun stores were closed by a court order.
Army officials carried out inspections in other stores that sell restricted weapons and ammunition in the cities of Juazeiro (Bahia) and Petrolina (Pernambuco).
The crime ring included people with so-called CAC licenses (collectors, hunters, and sports-shooters), which allows them to purchase and own certain guns. The operation was code-named “Friendly Fire”, in keeping up with a longstanding Federal Police tradition to give colorful names to operations.
Per the G1 news website, 18 people had been arrested by early morning. One person was shot in the city of Salvador in a confrontation with the police.
Separately, an Army ordinance published today reduced from six to four the number of firearms police officers can own and have at home. The rules also further restricted the types of weapons that can be purchased, restricting police officers to owning at most one rifle.
Back in July 2023, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a decree banning CACs from carrying loaded weapons on their commute to shooting locations.
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