Brazil’s Federal Police seized BRL 9.5 billion in cash and assets from organized crime in 2025 – up from BRL 6.1 billion seized in the previous year, the corporation’s director-general, Andrei Rodrigues, said Monday (Dec. 15). The figures correspond to the period from January to November of each year.

According to Rodrigues, these are “funds that were effectively seized from organized crime,” having been confiscated in various forms, “in cash, real estate, boats, aircraft, cryptocurrency, or gold.”

The amounts were also found in the accounts of those under investigation, even though it is common for the amounts seized in these cases to be less than the amount frozen by the courts, Rodrigues said.

The director met with journalists on Monday at the Federal Police headquarters in Brasília. During the meeting, he defended the measures taken to de-capitalize organized crime.

“It’s not the poor black people in the favelas. We need to confront those who finance, who have resources, who run organized crime and lead organized structures, and who have rarely set foot in a favela,” he said. 

According to Rodrigues’ assessment, in 2025, to date, the Federal Police has recorded 3,310 approved operations, up from 3,133 last year, with 2,413 arrest warrants served, also up from 2,184 in 2024. In his view, the numbers demonstrate “a more efficient result of the investigations.”

The results for 2025 from the Integrated Force for Combating Organized Crime (FICCO) were also presented, which recorded 215 operations, 978 arrests, and 1,551 searches and seizures carried out. The de-capitalized value totaled BRL 163.31 million.

An operation launched by the Federal Police on Wednesday (Dec. 10) is investigating a criminal organization responsible for luring and trafficking women in Brazil for sexual exploitation in Europe.

Four people were arrested during the operation and eight search-and-seizure warrants were executed in cities in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In addition, two arrests were made in the Spanish city of Álava with the help of Interpol.

Notícias relacionadas:

• In Brasília, women rally against violence and government inaction.

According to the police, the criminals lured women in Brazil, arranged for their transportation abroad, and subjected them to threats and degrading conditions of sexual exploitation in Spain.

The probe was conducted in cooperation with Spain’s National Police through Ameripol’s Specialized Center for Combating Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling.