Brazilian federal police have initiated a massive effort to dislodge a criminal organization that is allegedly planning to kidnap and kill government officials in at least five states.
According to a statement made by the police on Wednesday morning, roughly 120 officers were sent out to serve 24 search and seizure warrants and 11 arrest warrants to people in states such as Mato Grosso do Sul, Rondonia, Sao Paulo, and Parana.
The planned attacks, according to the authorities, were a part of a coordinated operation that was meant to take place at the same time. A lawmaker and a prosecutor were among those targeted, the justice minister Flavio Dino tweeted.
Sergio and Rosangela Moro, a husband and wife team in the public sector, also claimed on social media that they were the intended victims.
Rosangela Moro, a member of Brazil’s House of Deputies, commented, “I thank the police and agents involved in Operation Sequaz, which demolished an organized crime conspiracy to assassinate authorities and their families, including my husband [Sergio Moro] and my family.
She tweeted her relief over Wednesday’s announcement and her readiness to pursue even stricter legislation to combat organized crime in Brazil.
“Retaliation cannot continue in either politics or criminality. It’s us today. It might be you or your kids tomorrow,” she wrote.
Senator Sergio Moro, her husband, had previously presided over corruption trials as a federal judge, including the “Operation Car Wash” scandal, which resulted in the conviction of prominent left-wing politician and former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for almost 10 years.
The “Operation Car Wash” case made Moro a household name in his own Parana. Moro had found Lula guilty of money laundering and corruption in 2017 for allegedly taking an apartment refurbishment and a beachfront property as a bribe.
On the grounds that Moro had cooperated with prosecutors, the corruption allegations were subsequently dropped in 2021. That made it possible for Lula to run for president once more, and in 2022 he did so, winning a third term by defeating incumbent far-right Jair Bolsonaro in a run-off.
In the end, Moro gave up his judicial post. Though their relationship eventually worsened, Bolsonaro chose him as justice minister while he was in office. Moro was elected to the Senate of Brazil in 2022.
Moro suggested on Twitter that the First Capital Command, or PCC, was involved in the alleged criminal conspiracy. Founded in Sao Paulo, the PCC is one of the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil. It has engaged in international drug trafficking, money laundering, and run-ins with the law.
Moro noted that he would address the criminal scheme in a statement to the Senate later on Wednesday.
His wife Rosangela conjectured that the pair and other authorities had been attacked on her personal Twitter account “because they had the bravery, with their work, to challenge organized crime.”
She continued, “You can’t bargain with a bandit.
