RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Brazilian Federal Police increased the number of operations in two areas in which the federal government is criticized. The agency launched 304 special operations in 2021 to advance investigations into crimes against human rights. The number is 237% higher than the 90 actions carried out in 2020 and is the highest since 2018.
The agency includes in this account investigations that had ostensive phases in cases of human trafficking, slave labor, and immigrant smuggling, for example. The number of arrests in inquiries opened by the Federal Police to investigate these crimes also grew. There were 156 against 70 in 2020, an increase of 122%.
Another area that registered an increase in the number of operations was environmental crimes. There was a 14% increase, from 565 in 2020 to 646 this year.
The actions involve operations against mining, deforestation, burning, and invasion of protected lands. One of them, for example, arrested 38 people in December and seized 75 aircraft used in illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land in Roraima.
With information from Folhapress