PF seizes 77kg of gold in plane escorted by police officers in SP

The Federal Police agency in São Paulo seized, on the afternoon of May 4, 77kg of gold in a private plane that landed at the Bertram Luiz Leupolz State Airport in Sorocaba. The shipment was valued at about R$23 million. Seized documents indicate that the ore was illegally mined in the states of Mato Grosso and Pará.

According to Folha de S. Paulo, two military police officers worked escorting the gold: Lieutenant-Colonel Marcelo Tasso and Sergeant Gildsmar Canuto, both assigned to the Military House of the Government of São Paulo.

A study conducted by the Escolhas Institute points out that 17% of the gold exported in 2020 came from illegal origins. The increase coincides with the rise in illegal gold digging in indigenous lands.