Seized material filled three trucks and needed a task force to be unloaded. A seven-month investigation identified a chain that involved hacking applications, changing IMEI and issuing false invoices to return stolen devices to the market.
By Bruno Tavares, João de Mari, TV Globo and g1 SP — São Paulo
Operation against cell phone theft and tampering arrested 15 people this Thursday (10) in São Paulo. Around 10 thousand devices without receipts were seized.
The seven-month investigation identified the criminal chain. The stolen devices were modified in clandestine workshops and resold over the internet.
Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) stated that he will require tax proof from companies. They may have their state registration revoked.
The investigation originated from previous investigations, such as Operation Salus et Dignitas, in 2024. GPS tracking helped to map the suspects.
An operation against a scheme to steal, tamper with and resell cell phones arrested 15 people this Thursday (10) in São Paulo, including a retired military police officer who had more than 200 devices. In total, around 10 thousand cell phones without receipts were recovered during the action.
According to investigations, the material was part of a criminal scheme that began with the theft or robbery of cell phones and ended with the resale of adulterated devices on the formal market, mainly over the internet. The operation was conducted by the Public Ministry (MP) and the Civil Police.
According to the police, seven prisoners had arrest warrants issued by the courts. Another eight were arrested in the act.
The investigation, which lasted seven months and identified different groups specializing in each stage of the scheme, seeks to identify and interrupt the different links in the chain of sales of stolen and stolen cell phones in the capital.
In a warehouse in Mooca, in the East Zone of the capital, teams found tons of cell phones and parts, such as screens and cameras. The material seized during the operation filled three trucks.
It was necessary to set up a task force to unload the products at the Civil Police Internal Affairs garage, in the Avenida Paulista region.
According to the MP, information provided by arrested criminals helped investigators understand how the criminal chain worked.
Application hacking
According to the investigation, after the cell phone was stolen or stolen, the device went through a stage designed to gain access to the victim's information.
Specialized criminals cracked passwords, hacked applications and emptied bank accounts within minutes.
GPS analysis of the seized cell phones showed that this activity was carried out at different points on Rua Guaianases, in the center of São Paulo.
From there, the devices went to a third stage: clandestine technical assistance installed in popular shopping malls in the Santa Ifigênia region.
In these places, cell phones were modified to make identification difficult and allow them to be resold.
🔎 IMEI is a unique code used to identify cell phones. Changing this number makes it difficult to track and identify the origin of the equipment.
For the general commander of the Military Police, Glauce Anselmo Cavalli, attacking the different stages of the chain is a way to combat robberies and cell phone theft.
"This type of confrontation in the logistics chain is a great tool for us to combat this in general, because there is no reason to steal and steal if there is no one who will receive it, if there is no one who will modify the characteristics of that device to eventually resell."
The path of stolen cell phones in SP — Photo: Arte/g1
Fake invoices
The last step identified by the researchers was the attempt to reinsert cell phones into the formal market.
To this end, shell companies issued cold invoices to give the appearance of legality to stolen and tampered devices.
A conversation obtained during the investigation shows a request for a company to issue an invoice for a cell phone with an earlier date, corresponding to the month of purchase.
With false documentation, the device could return to the market and be sold mainly over the internet.
The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), stated that the next step will be to charge the companies involved with proving the origin of the cell phones.
"This will require the next action, which is to ask for tax proof of these cell phones. And these companies certainly won't have it," he said.
According to Tarcísio, companies may have their state registration revoked if they are proven to be selling stolen or stolen products.
"And the next step now is to revoke the registration because they are selling robbery and theft products. So we're closing in on them."
Where did the investigation come from?
The investigation is an outcome of a series of investigations that, over the last few years, identified the existence of a structured market to absorb, recondition and resell stolen and stolen cell phones in the capital of São Paulo.
The investigation did not arise from an isolated incident. Suspicions began to gain consistency from seizures made in previous operations, analysis of cell phones kidnapped by the police, intelligence reports, tracking of stolen devices and information shared between different investigations.
These elements began to indicate the existence of an organized chain that would go beyond the perpetrators of the theft, reaching receivers, technicians responsible for unlocking, parts dealers and companies that would operate in the circulation of devices in the formal market.
One of the main antecedents cited is Operation Salus et Dignitas, conducted by the Public Ministry and the Civil Police in Cracol. From the breakdown and analysis of data extracted from devices and equipment seized in this operation, investigators identified conversations, commercial relationships and financial transactions that would point to a system of reusing and selling cell phones with criminal origins.
The discoveries led to the opening of new fronts of investigation and the in-depth mapping of those involved.
At the same time, the Civil Police also began to gather data obtained in other property investigations and from location records of stolen or stolen cell phones.
The tracking showed that several devices stolen in different crimes ended up concentrated in certain addresses in the central region of São Paulo, especially in the neighborhoods of Santa Ifigênia and Campos Elíseos.
The repetition of these signals in specific properties was considered an indication that the locations could function as reception, storage and distribution points for devices.
The investigators maintain that the connection between the different parties involved arose precisely from the crossing of evidence obtained in several previous investigations. Conversations extracted from seized cell phones, seizures of unlocking equipment, tax analyses, financial transactions and monitoring of device locations would have revealed an integrated network of operations.
When analyzing the requests, the Court highlighted that the elements gathered by the Public Prosecutor's Office indicate continuity between the different investigations and point to a possible criminal organization focused on the economic exploitation of stolen and stolen cell phones.
For this reason, temporary arrests and dozens of search and seizure warrants were authorized in properties, technical assistance stores, companies and buildings where there was a recurring indication of the location of stolen and stolen devices.
Operation against cell phone theft — Photo: Reproduction
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