PCC chief released by judge and PF vigilante arrested in operation against international trafficking

FICCO/MS launched Operation Capolinea against international drug trafficking this Thursday (15). Among the targets are faction leaders and a Federal Police vigilante.

The action complies with 21 arrest warrants and 20 search warrants in 4 states. The court ordered the freezing of R$24 million in the assets of those being investigated.

According to investigations, the guard passed on information about police routines and movements at the police station. He also stored drugs and participated in the transportation of narcotics.

Gerson Palermo, identified as one of the heads of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), another drug dealer identified as Aguinaldo Chaleira and a guard from the Federal Police Station in Corumbá are among the targets of Operation Capolinea, carried out this Thursday (15) by the Integrated Force to Combat Organized Crime in Mato Grosso do Sul (FICCO/MS). The investigation targets a criminal organization suspected of bringing drugs from Bolivia to Brazil and distributing them in four states.

g1 tried to contact Gerson Palermo's defense, but received no response until the last update of this report. The defenses of the other two being investigated have not yet been located.

Palermo, who spent six years on the run after being released by decision of a judge, had already been in prison since May this year, when he was captured in Bolivia. According to an official source linked to the operation, a new arrest warrant was served against him this Thursday.

FICCO/MS also confirmed the arrest of Aguinaldo Chaleira, a drug trafficker who was in Bolivia and was handed over to Brazilian authorities in Corumbá. Another prisoner is a man identified as responsible for the kidnapping of a niece from Palermo. The source did not say when these arrests occurred.

In total, around 100 police officers participate in the operation, which carries out 14 preventive arrest warrants, seven temporary arrest warrants and 20 search and seizure warrants in Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, Goiás and Minas Gerais. The court also ordered the blocking and seizure of R$24 million worth of assets belonging to those being investigated.

According to FICCO/MS, the organization had traded approximately 24 tons of drugs during the period investigated.

One of those arrested in the operation worked as a security guard at the Federal Police Station in Corumbá. According to FICCO/MS, he is the stepson of one of the leaders of the criminal organization and used access to the unit to pass on information to traffickers.

The guard provided information about the police station's routine, the presence of police teams and the situation of prisoners. He also sent photographs of seizures and documents obtained within the unit.

Furthermore, the investigation shows that he kept drugs at home and participated in the transport of narcotics between Bolivia and Brazil.

The man would also have participated in the transport of a cargo seized in Três Lagoas, in August 2025. On that occasion, police officers found 35 kilos of cocaine and 12.5 kilos of marijuana hidden inside a tire.

Gerson Palermo is known to Brazilian authorities for his involvement in international drug trafficking and for having participated in the hijacking of a former Vasp plane in 2000.

The drug dealer was also investigated in Operation All In, launched by the Federal Police in 2017, which investigated a cocaine transport scheme from Bolivia to Brazil.

In 2020, Palermo left the Campo Grande Federal Penitentiary after being placed under house arrest by decision of Judge Divoncir Schreiner Maran, from the Court of Justice of Mato Grosso do Sul.

Shortly after being released, he broke the electronic ankle bracelet and fled to Bolivia, where he remained hidden for around six years.

The decision that allowed the release began to be investigated by the National Council of Justice (CNJ), which determined the judge's compulsory retirement.

Palermo was located and arrested in Bolivia in May 2026. Now, he has once again become the target of an investigation for international drug trafficking.

According to FICCO/MS, the group took advantage of the movement of trucks loaded with iron ore in the Corumbá region to transport drugs from Bolivia to other Brazilian states.

To facilitate the scheme, the organization recruited employees from mining companies, including supervisors and scale operators. They received payments via Pix to allow trucks to be loaded without supervision.

Investigators also identified drugs hidden in tires, fuel tanks and grain shipments.

The investigation began with the analysis of the cell phone seized from one of the group's main operators, who was hiding in Bolivia. Based on the information found on the device, the police identified other members and reached the organization's command.

According to FICCO/MS, the group traded around 24 tons of drugs during the period analyzed. The drugs were distributed to Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, Goiás and Minas Gerais.

Operation Capolinea is coordinated by FICCO/MS, a task force that brings together state and federal public security institutions to combat criminal organizations.

The warrants were issued by the 1st Federal Court of Corumbá. The Court also authorized the inclusion of three investigated people living abroad in Interpol's Red Diffusion, an international cooperation mechanism to locate wanted people.

Those investigated may be charged with international drug trafficking and criminal organization.

The name Capolinea comes from Italian and means "end of the line", in reference to the objective of interrupting the activities of the main person under investigation and the transport of drugs in loads of iron ore.