Brazil targets massive fuel-related money laundering network

Friday 29 August 2025 - 07:45

By: Sahili Aya

Brazil targets massive fuel-related money laundering network

Brazilian authorities launched a large-scale operation on Thursday against an extensive money laundering network linked to the fuel sector, involving more than 1,400 agents across several states. The operation uncovered billions of reais allegedly laundered through gas stations and later placed in financial institutions.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hailed the initiative as “the largest response by the Brazilian state against organized crime in our history.” According to prosecutors, members of the criminal network, tied to the powerful gang Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), concealed illicit funds through investments in about 40 financial funds.

The PCC, originally founded in São Paulo’s prisons, has long-established ties with Italy’s ‘Ndrangheta mafia, particularly in the cocaine trade from South America to Europe. Investigators revealed that the organization infiltrated several stages of Brazil’s fuel industry—from importation to distribution—while also profiting from the sale of adulterated fuel produced with methanol, a highly toxic and flammable substance.

The Federal Revenue Service estimates that the network’s financial operations reached 52 billion reais (around 8 billion euros) between 2020 and 2024. Authorities seized 1,500 vehicles, nearly 200 properties, two boats, and about 300,000 reais in cash, while five suspects were arrested.

To evade detection, the criminal organization used fintech platforms instead of traditional banks, effectively creating a “parallel bank” system. One company allegedly received over 11,000 suspicious cash deposits between 2022 and 2023. At least 40 funds worth 30 billion reais (about 4.7 billion euros) were identified as controlled by the PCC.

The group also reinvested heavily in the fuel sector, purchasing ethanol plants and some 1,600 tanker trucks to distribute fuel through gas stations under its control. Brazil, the world’s second-largest producer of biofuels, remains highly vulnerable to organized crime’s penetration of the formal economy.