Tons of gold extracted from the subsoil of the Kayapó indigenous land, in the south of Pará, moved, for years, a complex criminal organization that dominated the entire chain of illegal business, from the opening and exploitation of mines to money laundering schemes and the sale of the product in Brazil and abroad. The network involved dozens of companies linked to the metal trade, gold cooperatives, dozens of ghost employees and companies unrelated to the sector, such as a barbershop in Limeira (SP), which washed more than R$ 12 million from illegal mining in 11 months.
The Estadão had exclusive access to the Federal Police report on which Operation Terra Desolata was based. Launched on October 27, the action, which involved around 200 police officers, served 62 search and arrest warrants, in addition to 12 preventive arrest warrants in nine states – Pará, Amazonas, Goiás, Roraima, São Paulo, Tocantins, Maranhão, Mato Grosso and Rondônia – and in the Federal District.
The Court determined blocking and unavailability of amounts that reach R$ 500 million in the investigated accounts. Five aircraft were seized. The economic activity of 12 companies was suspended and properties of 47 individuals and companies blocked.
Estadão tried to contact everyone mentioned in the report. They serve preventive detention. Therefore, lawyers were sought, who were also not found or did not manifest themselves. The report, which points to the illegal removal of about a ton of gold per year from indigenous lands in the south of Pará, reveals, in detail, the audacity of members of the gang. On several occasions, they were not concerned with showing their luxury items on social media, such as helicopters and imported cars, as well as large excavators and gold bars on the table.
Among all those investigated, the actions of the brothers Arlan Monteiro de Almeida and Hailton Monteiro de Almeida, who are among those who had the preventive detention decreed, stand out. Known as the “dairy brothers”, both have as their main economic activity the illegal extraction of gold in indigenous territory. It is estimated that, from the Kayapó land alone, where the family’s operational base is located, the dairy brothers had been extracting no less than 18 kilos of gold per month. This equates to a monthly billing of approximately R$5.4 million with illegal activity.
The PF report says that both have crime for their livelihood. Arlan is already a defendant in criminal proceedings at the 9th Federal Environmental and Agrarian Court of Pará and was arrested in 2020 by the PF in Redenção (PA). Before the operation, he was on probation. With his brother Hailton, he already responded for theft against Caixa Econômica, in a process involving bank fraud. Hailton has no employment relationship nor is he a partner or manager of any company. On social networks, however, it displays luxury vehicles, aircraft, hydraulic excavator-type machines and even gold bars.
Outside of digital publications, the brothers’ work sought ways to protect themselves from inspection. Investigations show that the family’s hydraulic loading machines began to be enveloped in military-style camouflage, to make it difficult to locate them using equipment such as unmanned aerial vehicles (vant) and helicopters.
PERFORMANCE. The PF’s investigations, starting in 2020, indicated that the criminal organization operated at three levels: extraction, trade (through intermediaries) and export of illegally extracted gold. The extraction of gold is carried out from several mines in the southern region of Pará, including indigenous lands.
At the end of the process are several people like the Almeida brothers, who deal directly with illegal logging. In addition to these, the PF points out the participation of miners such as Gustavo Seixas, Sidney Soares, Marcus Vinicius Alvares, Walterly Guedes and the Cooperouri cooperative. These miners, according to the investigation, sold the gold to middlemen – people or companies – near the mining region. At the same time, they also carried out commercial transactions directly with the company CHM do Brasil, headquartered in Goiânia, which exported material to Italy.
To give the appearance of legality, some operations took place through Cooperouri, which has mining permits (PLG). But the latter purchased gold from uncooperative miners and explored areas outside its concession.
“There is no doubt about the association of those involved in an extensive and complex criminal organization focused on the practice of environmental crimes, with a special focus on money laundering arising from the profits obtained from previous crimes perpetrated, through the clear and essential division of tasks”, concludes the PF report. “The arrest of these would be the only way to interrupt or reduce the activities of the criminal organization, taking into account, also, the social commotion that the case requires and the credibility of the Justice in the face of the seriousness of the crimes pointed out”, he continues.
INVOLVED. Those investigated may be liable for crimes of usurpation of federal assets, integration of a criminal organization and money laundering, in addition to penalties provided for by the Environmental Crimes Law. The Cooperative of Miners of Ourilandia and Region (Cooperouri) did not manifest itself until yesterday. The report was unable to contact the company CHM do Brasil. The Italian Chimet SPA was called, but did not manifest itself.
The report was unable to contact the investigated Arlan Monteiro de Almeida, Hailton Monteiro de Almeida, Gustavo Machado Seixas, Sidney Soares Gomes Brito, Marcus Vinicius Alvarez Guimaraes, Patricia Ferreira Soffa, Douglas Alves de Morais, Fabio Monteiro da Silva, Giacomo Dogi, Walterly Guedes Pereira dos Santos, Vergelina Pereira dos Santos and Andre Felipe Picone Rosa. The information is from the newspaper The State of São Paulo.
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