A chase on the roof of Guarulhos airport ended with the arrest of an employee and the seizure of 33 kilos of cocaine. The act is just one of the operations that reveal how criminal organizations have used employees with access to restricted areas to move drugs within Brazil's largest airport.
According to the Federal Police, the groups recruit workers from different sectors to ensure that the drugs reach planes without arousing suspicion. In one of the cases investigated, an employee was arrested after trying to hide on the terminal's roof. With him, agents found a suitcase loaded with cocaine.
The agents also recorded the participation of cleaning workers, transport assistants and other employees who had access to strategic areas of the airport.
"These recruited employees then ensure that the drugs reach the planes that will travel from Brazil to the location indicated by this large international criminal organization that is awaiting arrival in the destination country", details the Federal Police delegate responsible for the investigations, Ivo Silva.
Investigations show that drug movement occurs via routes that are invisible to those embarking or disembarking. In another incident, an employee placed suitcases in a container that would go to Lisbon and even photographed the cargo before being approached. The luggage was intercepted by police, who found cocaine inside the suitcases.
Security circuit images show that drug entry routes into the airport include different methods:
Service vehicles: In the escape that ended on the roof, the drugs were transported in the back of a vehicle belonging to the dealership itself to the engine room;
Changing rooms without cameras: Transport assistants entered the service gates with backpacks and passed them on to a cleaning employee inside a changing room; the material was placed in garbage bags to pierce the x-ray and handed to a passenger at the bathroom door in the departure hall;
Cuts in the fence: At another point on the perimeter, the external fence was broken to transfer packages directly to the carts that move baggage to the aircraft.
According to the PF, the structure allows the drug to cross monitored sectors without attracting attention.
In addition to the traditional export of cocaine to Europe, the Federal Police identified a new criminal dynamic: the shipment of substances from Asia, Europe and North America towards Brazil, a modality called "reverse trafficking".
One of the victims on the route was Brazilian Gabriele Amador Silva, who traveled for leisure in May with her boyfriend to the United States and Canada. On a flight between the two countries, Gabriele's luggage was lost and returned just 18 days later at Toronto airport.
After returning to Brazil with the recovered suitcase, the young woman was surprised by a police summons. "So, a suitcase with drugs was sent in my name at Guarulhos airport, without my knowledge", reported Gabriele.
The PF located two suitcases abandoned on the conveyor belt at Guarulhos airport with 25 kilos of hashish in each one.
The method of exchanging labels repeats what happened in March 2023, when two Brazilian women were detained for 38 days in Germany after having labels transferred to suitcases containing 40 kilos of cocaine, a case that ended with their innocence being recognized and compensation being paid by the German government.
In 2026 alone, almost five tons of drugs were seized in Guarulhos. With more than two months left until the end of the year, the volume is already the largest in the airport's history. In the same period, 274 people were arrested for trafficking, including employees who had access to restricted areas of the terminals.
The Federal Police states that, in addition to arresting the workers involved, it seeks to target members of the criminal organizations responsible for coordinating the international logistics of trafficking.
"We know that repression alone is not enough. It is essential that we also do work in relation to prevention", highlighted the PF delegate.
The defense of the employee trapped on the roof denies his involvement in drug trafficking and stated that the seized suitcase was not in his possession at the time of the approach. Lawyers for the other defendants did not comment.
In a statement, the National Civil Aviation Agency (Anac) informed that it is studying the feasibility of new investments to reinforce security in Guarulhos. The concessionaire GRU Airport declared that it provides the surveillance structure and seeks to improve it in close cooperation with public security bodies.
