PARTICIPANTS’ PAPERSRESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 58

EFFECTIVE METHODS TO COMBATTRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME IN CRIMINALJUSTICE PROCESSES
Ruy Gomes Silva *I. OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION
OF TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZEDCRIMEA. Illicit Drug Trafficking
The current situation of the illicit drugtrafficking in Brazil in relation totransnational organized crime haspresented itself in two different aspects.
Firstly by the export of relatively small
quantities of drugs by criminalorganizations via the international airportsof Brazil. The drugs are taken out inseveral differents forms, by one or more
persons. The second aspect, the export oflarge quantities of drugs by these criminalorganizations generally by sea, in medium
or large ships. Sometimes these large
quantities are moved by air.
In the trade of illicit drugs traffic insmall amounts, there are two groups oftransnational organized crime that
constantly sponsor this illegal commercein Brazil. The mafia from Nigeria is agroup that develops ample and routine likeactivity in the illicit traffic of drugs from
Brazil (export of substances, basicallycocaine). Their methodology consists ofseveral phases. Initially there is one groupof about ten thousand Nigerians
established in the largest city of thecountry, São Paulo. They are involved inseveral common activities, but reallyrender any type of service to thisorganization.

* Officer of Interpol at Bahia State, Federal Police
Agent, Federal Police Department, Brazil

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Several leaders of the organization inSão Paulo acquire the cocaine in thefrontier areas, by land or by air. Many
Africans are trained in good manners,
attire, etc and are sent to Brazil to serveas “mules” for the group. Sometimes, thesepeople enter Brazil as tourits and spendsome time working in simple services to getused to the people and the Portuguese
language. In a few cases, the organization
uses Brazilians for the traffic of the drugs.
For the transportation of cocaine, drug
dealers use several forms of camouflage,
from carrying the drug in the internalorgans of the body (as well as bellow theirclothes); inside utilities; in false
compartments in their suitcases, etc. The
quantities always vary between half a kilo
to three kilos. The routes used by the drug
dealers vary depending on the activities ofthe police rediscovering them. When the“mules” are arrested, the organization
provides them assistance with a lawyer
until the last interrogation by the judge.
Other criminal organizations, such as
the Italian mafia, deal with the illicit trafficof small amounts of drugs in Brazil bypurchasing cocaine in neighboring
countries. They adopt simple measures forthe export of the drug from international
airports. The drugs are then transported
in a distilled form by the “mules”. The
majority of the “mules” are Europeans.

116TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
In relation to the illicit traffic of drugsin large amounts in Brazil, done by groupsof transnational organized criminals, wehave noticed a change in relation to theaction of the South-American mafia in the
drug traffic trade within Brazilian
territory. This is due to the fact thatnational organized groups are starting to
act in a very specific form, in certain stagesof the trafficking.
Brazil has always been a passageway for
drugs, especially cocaine and heroine,
coming from Colombia, Peru, Bolívia anddestined primarily to European and NorthAmerican consumer markets. Brazilian
criminal organizations are responsible forthe transportation, storing, packaging andexport of the drug to its destination, eventhough these organizations are not theowners of these drugs.
We also have the occurrence of theplantation refining laboratories for cocaine
in the Brazilian Amazon. Able to hide in
the demographically empty areas of that
region, they avoid the problem of exportingthe chemical products that are necessary
for the processing of coca paste intohydrochloride.
B. Illegal Firearms Trafficking
The illicit traffic of firearms is, at the
moment, one of the main activities of somefrontier smugglers of Brazil. Firearms are
the main product and their introduction
into the national territory serves to supply
the black market or to give support to any
illegal activity that exists in the country.
Organized crime, that is acting
nowadays in the country, uses firearms to
arm their members. These members arein charge of the security of the organization
and use the firearms to commit crimes of
threat and murder. These activities are
inherent to the criminal organizations.
During the last few months, organizedcrime groups that traffic in illegal drugs in
Brazil, have exchanged firearms for cocaine
with terrorist groups from neighboring
countries. There have also been
investigations regarding the importation ofillicit arms in the country through the portsof Rio de Janeiro and Santos in São Paulo.
The Russian mafia, has sponsored these
activities.
In the frontier region of Brazil (withParaguay) there are families that began
smuggling activities. With the growth oftheir activities, they gained structures likethe international mafia, keeping due
proportion. These families began to acquirepolitical power and influence in certain
regions of Paraguay. They can easily
develop any type of commercial activity
between the two countries.
These families have started to act inother illicit acitvities such as the illegal
traffic of firearms at the transnational
level, only from that area. They mainly
participate in relation to the illegal trafficof firearms because of the opportunity they
have as buyers. Their most constantdeliveries are for the groups of drug dealers
in the slums of Rio de Janeiro.
In summary, refering to illicit firearms
traffic, we can say that in Brazil there is
only one focal area in the frontier region of
the southwest. We do not currently havedata regarding the existence of groups ofother transnational organized crime groups
with illegal arms trafficking as their basic
operation or with any large volume ofactivity in this regard.
C. Human (Women and Children)
Trafficking
The traffic of women in Brazil has
intensified in the last years motivated by
the socio-economic difficulties of thecountry. Unemployment has very highindices. Misery has become so widespread

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 58
in the Brazilian population that thepathway to prostitution for women andadolescents is a fact. As a result, thecriminal organizations acting in Brazil take
women to Europe and Asia, many times
under the guise of giving them good jobs
and with promises of a life with moresecurity.
The most usual practice used by women
trafickers in Brazilian territory is that of
the selection of women with different
proposals. These proposals may be of threedifferent types: that of a good job in a
regular company; that of work in a dancegroup or show house; or an explicit one ofworking in a prostitution house or striaptease show. After the women are chosen
the contractor pays all their travel
expenses. They receive information about
any questions they may have to answer tothe immigration authorities of thecountries of destination.
Many denunciations are made to the
Police from the parents, relatives or friendsof the women. They themselves propose toleave the country in such an adventure.
The police can hardly prohibit this type ofaction due to the demands of the Brazilian
criminal law that it be proven that theobjective of leaving the country, by the
woman, is for the practice of prostitution.
This is a fact that these women never admit
or it is difficult to prove. Several times thepolice have tried to use the testimony ofmany women who return to Brazil after
having been obliged to work as prostitutes.
Their aim has been to identify the person
or criminal group that practised this action.
These women, when they are in brazilian
territory, do not want to admit what has
occurred because of the situation with theirfamilies and society. We cannot state withconcrete evidence, but due to the incidenceof cases where women leave the country to
go to Europe, the Spanish mafia must be
acting in the illicit traffic of women.

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In relation to the traffic of children in
Brazil, we have noticed the action of several
groups of people who work for legal
adoption by couples in Europe, mainly
Italy. Nevertheless it is difficult to statethat there is participation of organizedcrime in this activity in Brazil.
Some years ago people involved withfacilitating adoptions acted in a way thatnecessary legal procedure and thelegalization of the act would not be
followed. In this way, the European couples
took Brazilian children abroad with legal
adoptions but with consent full of
irregularities. These irregularities include
the non-obeyance of the period of
adoptation by the adopting couple with thechild to be adopted. All of the irregularities
were originating from acts practiced by
officers of the judiciary being covered upby the judges of the district who sign the
final order for the adoption.
Another routine action from the people
involved in facilitating adoptions was togive money or goods to the parents of theneedy children for them to give away theirchildren to be adopted by foreign couples
and provide them a way to live in adeveloped country. After the disseminationof information about these adoptions by the
media, showing some situations of children
taken for adoption, but against the will of
their parents, the judiciary started todemand that the specific laws should beobeyed for the adoption of Brazilianchildren by foreign couples. These laws
were specially based on the Haia
Convention, which is in force. At present,children that are adopted are chosen in
institutions that are formally registered for
adoption, which are under the control of
the government.
At this time, we cannot be certain about
the existence of the traffic of children in
Brazil. We must take into account the fact

116TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
that many Brazilian children are leaving
the country and being adopted by people
from other countries without a formal
process.
D. Trafficking in Stolen Vehicles
The vehicles that are stolen in Brazil
have been done with two motivations: tocommit other crimes, such as robbery,
kidnapping, etc.; or to remove their partsand components. In the first case,generally the vehicles are recovered. A
minority suffer some type of adulterationof documents to continue in circulation. In
the second case, the majority have no
possibility of being found, as a result of thedismantling process.
The organizations that are stealing
vehicles in Brazil aim at meeting the needsof the domestic market. The majority ofvehicles made in Brazil are not well
accepted in neighboring countries due tothe lack of spare parts. This creates
dangers and difficulties for them to crossborders. Still there are occurrences of thedelivery of stolen vehicles in Paraguay andBolivia, mainly to exchange them for illicit
drugs, with a much smaller number in
relation to those that stay in the country.
In Brazil the presence of thetransnational organized crime is notdefined in the traffic of stolen vehicles. This
crime is under the jurisdiction of the statepolice.
E. Card Fraud
A major problem that currently exists in
Brazil is credit card fraud. The fraud isperpetrated by the cloning of credit cards,
both at the national and international
level. The cloning of these cards is done
more easily abroad, where the machinesthat are used to do it, are sold without
resctrictions in specialized shops. In
Brazil, the sale of these machines isforbidden in the open market.

Credit card fraud in Brazil is classified
by the Penal Code as the crime of taking
illicit advantage of another person bymeans of fraud. In this particular case, thefraud causes losses to a common person,
and therefore falls under the jurisdictionof the state police.
F. Money Laundering
In the last few years it has become
obvious in Brazil that there isn’t a sufficient
structure by which the public and thelegislative branches can combat organizedcrime. The occurrence of large-scale casesof public corruption, the illicit movementof capital, improper usage of public monies
and funds from campaigns has becomefrequent.
The insufficiency of norms, represented
by the lack of specific types of penality,
favor impunity. It was because of this thatLaw 9613 was passed in 1998, aiming at
specific punishment for the activity of“laundering money”. Along with thislegislation came the inauguration of awhole system to control the financial
operations and the fiscalization of the
movement of capital.
W i t h t h i s n e w l a w, c r i m i n a linvestigations began to detect the methods
for laundering money in Brazil. Processes
to verify this crime are ongoing in the
country, without having gotten to their
final stage for decision by a Justice. In
some Brazilian states, the investigations
are making it evident that there is thepresence of money from international
mafias on behalf of ‘ghosts’, false
beneficiaries, front companies, fictitious
companies, etc for the purpose of acquiring
goods and valuables, and for the movementof money in the Exchange Bureau.
According to the public authorities
involved in the processes of verification of
the laundering of money in Brazil, it is still163

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 58
too early to talk about the results of thisspecial legislation and of the prevention
agencies that were created i.e, The Council
for the Control of Financial Activities, theDivision of Organized Crime and Special
Enquiries of the Federal Police Department
and the Department of Combat to Financial
and Exchange Illicit Acts of the Central
Bank of Brazil.
G. The Traffic of Wild Animals
Nowadays, according to theEnvironmental Investigation Agency, thesmmuggling of wild animals runs to 10
billion dollars per year. Our country, with
its incommensurable natural resources, isundoubtedly one of the most plundered bythis proftible criminal activity. According
to an estimation of the Brazilian
Environmental National Council - 12
million wild animal are taken away fromour forests, and 30% of them (3,6 million)
are destined overseas.
It must be registered that the traffic ofendangered species frequently occurs inconnection with the illegal trade of others
products or substances such as drugs,
weapons, alcohol, precious stones andothers. Sometimes the animals are used
as a hiding place for these merchandise.
For instance: a Boa Constrictor was
discovered with plastic bags of cocaine
hidden inside its stomach; and an
automatic rifles’ load was detected inside
wooden boxes containing poisonous snakes.
Some kinds of wild animals, by virtue of
their exuberance and consequent demand,
are subject to intense traffic, such as
psittacidae (parrots and macaws), eagles,
toucans, turtles, crocodiles (for leather),primates amd Felidae (felines). We mustobserve that the main buyers of live wild
animals are laboratories, colectors, zoos,
animal shops and circuses.

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Wild animal traffic has similarities withits “cousin”, drugs and weapons traffic. In
the same manner, it is born in the interior,in the forest, where modest and poor people
happen to be used to capture birds and wild
animals in exchange for scraps. The
catcher, a modest simple minded person,
earns little or almost nothing for theservice, just like the backwoodsmen during
the planting of EPADU. In the end of thischain, toucans, macaws, pumas andspotted leopard are sold for thousands ofdollars in consumption markets of the firstworld.
From the Amazon jungle to a golden cagein New York, from the Pantanal (a kind of
Brazilian savanna) in Mato Grosso do Sul
State to a madam’s coat in Paris, the trafficof animals has particularities which we will
analyze. Just as others illicit activities, thetraffic of animals can certainly be
countered by a net of inspectors ans
employees in strategic positions, in ports,
airports and frontiers, regimented tofacilitate embarking/disembarking legal
channels for exportation. We will also findairline companies’ employees involved in
the perpetration of these offenses; the ones
reponsible for air cargoes and crew
members as well.
Another singular detail, alreadyobserved in the international wildlife
traffic, is the “laundry”. Such acitivity is
operated by the international traffikers,
when there is a frontier country with“flabby” environmental legislation, incomparison to the others.
A real example would be the case ofanimals captured in Brazil (which has rigid
legislation concerning fauna exportation)and smuggled, via land, to Argentina,
whose legislation is considered
complaisant. In Argentina the animals
suffer the “laundry”, i.e., they have their
documentation altered, as if they were116TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
captured in that country and, this way, are“legally” exported to the USA and Europe.
The animal is not returned to Brazil,
modality known as “re-enter”, where
documentation fraud occurs with the helpof nurseries placed in foreign lands.
Another traffic modality presently usedis the transport of tropical birds’ eggs. The
criminals are smugglings the eggs ofmacaws, parrots and toucans, concealed in
executive suitcases which are portableincubators. Up to sixty eggs can be placed
inside these suitcases.
We know that some rare Psittacidae areworth up to a hundred thousand dollars in
European and North America markets. It
is not difficult to conclude that inside only
one suitcase can be transporting“merchandise” that can reach, in thosemarket, a total of six millions dollars.
According to this explanation, the trafficof wildlife is as profitable an activity as theillegal trafficking of drugs and firearms.
Thus we must say that it is a transnationalorganized crime acitivity, though we havenot proven any links to organized groups
for a while.
H. Major Transnational Organized
Criminal Groups
Without a shadow of doubt, in Brazil,organized crime is evolving. Until a few
years ago, Brazil was only a route for the
traffic of drugs, and even continuing to beso, other criminal activities have expanded:groups are involved in stealing and robbingcars, stealing loads from trucks; large
intensive drug traffic; public corruption,
fiscal frauds, etc. Still, in relation to theissue of transnational organized crime, it
is still too early to speak about the existencein Brazil with important nationalorganizations. In spite of the existence ofsmall groups that are active in the area ofthe frontier with Paraguay and Bolivia -just as a matter of opportunity - theNigerian, Italian, and Colombian mafia,
which are the main groups of represented
in transnational organized crime, operatein Brazil, but without headquarters here.
Finally, according what was stated. It
is time for a question: Will Brazil beprepared to face this menace? The
Brazilian strategy against organized crime
supports itself in four important points:
legislative modernization; coorperation
between police organizations; thestrengthening of the Federal Police
Department and the Highway Federal
Police; and increace in international
cooperation.
II. TOOLS FACILITATING THE
INVESTIGATION OF
TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZEDCRIMEA. Current Situation, and Problems
in the Utilization of andSolutions for Controlled Delivery
In spite of the principles of theConstitution of Brazil (1988) and theBrazilian process and penal laws, in effectfor sixty years, with provisions that avoid
the usage of controlled delivery due to whatis established as: the duty of the police toarrest any person caught in the act ofcommitting a crime or who is foundattempting to commit; comitting or rightafter committing the crime; and, if it is notdone immediately, the police will commit acrime for not practicing an act in thefulfillment of their obligation, controlled
delivery was admitted in Brazil only tocombat organized crime according to the
new Law 9034 from 1995.
With juridical justification of this newlaw, to stop unconstitutionality, criminal
association in cases of macro-criminality
would be a permanent passive offense, andthose persons would be subject to165

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 58
imprisonment at any moment, as long as
the police are permanently following theircriminal actions.
Still, this new law does not make itpossible to make use of controlled delivery
in Brazil by the police departments, due tothe lack of detailed norms relating to some
aspects, such as:(i) establishment of which authority isin charge of this control: the judge,
the prosecuting attorney, or thepolice itself;(ii) modernization of the procedures ofthe police proceedings, to beadequate for controlled delivery;(iii) regulation of the procedures ofcontrolled delivery in secretive
normative instructions;(iv) to begin to use controllled delivery
within the norms for it’s functioning
and the modernization of the
judiciary and procedures to beadequate to facilitate investigationsof the transnational organizedcrime.
B. Electronic Surveillance (WireTapping, Communications
Interception etc)
Presently in Brazil, Law 9296 is in effectand since 1996, it authorizes, based on theFederal Constitution of Brazil, only the
telephone interception of communications.
So, this tool for electronic control is being
used by the Brazilian police for criminal
investigation and penal process
instruction, on request from the police
authority or prosecuting attorney to thejudge in charge, whenever there isreasonable evidence of authorship, the factthat is being investigated constituting
crime of high relevance - illicit traffic ofdrugs, kidnapping, laundering of money,
etc - and the proof cannot be provided byanother means available. According to thislaw, the judge must decide on the request
for the telephone interception in a period

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of twenty four hours and, in case it isauthorized, the period will be for fifteendays (that can be extended for fifteen moredays).
The Brazilian police and prosecuting
attorneys have used telephone interception
to solve many cases, when authorized.
Mainly, due to dissemination (by the media)
of the usage of this tool by the authorities,
the criminal organizations have become
more and more organized in order to avoid
it. As well, some programs and systems
for mobile phones nowadays make it
dificult to breach the secrecy of theirtelephone calls. The Brazilian police
agencies also have several difficulties inusing the telephone listening device. The
most constant problems are the following:(i) resistance on part of the judges togrant authorization for the
telephone interception, because
these judges think that the police
are able to get the proof they needby means of old methods, and are
not accustomed yet to thetechnological developments in theworld;(ii) interrupted service in the telephonecompanies to attend to the judicial
authorization for telephoneinterception during the weekends,
holidays and night shifts; and(iii) the legal term for the period ofeavesdropping of fifteen days, which
can be extended for fifteen moredays, is not sufficient in most of thecases, mainly when it has to do withtransnational organized crime.
It would be a great achievement for thesolution of these problems in telephoneinterception if the Brazilian judges (whoare (at present) starting their careers being
less than thirty years old) had more life
experience and more factual participationin police work. The government could alsoestablish norms obliging the telephone

116TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS
companies to attend quickly to these types
of authorization, when it is related totransnational organized crime. Anothersolution would be the on-line connection of
the data from the telephone companies
with the police terminals, with theactivation of the system being underjudicial order.
With the difficulties already found by theBrazilian police and prosecuting attorneys
in the instruction of criminal investigations
using telephone interception, it is evident
that room listening devices or hidden
microphones would be very valuable tocombat transnational organized crime.
Under the Brazilian Constitution this isconsidered illegal at present.
C. Undercover Operations
Operations of infiltration of police incriminal organizations in Brazil are notpossible yet because there is no exception
to the rules of the Brazilian Penal Codewhich establishes: “whoever may
contribute to a crime is subject to the
sanctions established”. Brazilian law lists
as basic principles of the role of the police
the prevention of crime before therepression of crime.
Therefore participation of the police inany stage of the crime, whether it is in the
preparation or execution, makes it
impossible to commit the crime, and theauthor will be exempt of sanction.
Certainly the solution for this problem
would be the reformulation of our sixtyyear-old Penal Code. There is already aCommittee which has been working forsome years to present a bill to this effect.
D. Best Practice in and Weak Pointsof Conventional Investigative
Techniques
In the investigation of transnationalorganized crime in Brazil traditional
techniques are extensively used andconstitute proof in the criminal process(with equal value, depending on thecontext). The gathering of material proof
in a search and seizure which occurred
during police investigation (by judicial
order), with indications of authorship,combined with declarations from witnesses
and police reports from surveillance/
observations, are the best points of
conventional investigation. The
questioning of suspects will either confirm
all the proof already evident, or will leadto formal contradiction in the process.
In the questioning of suspects andinterviews with witnesses, there isdifficulty as to the hearing, because in
Brazil the statements of these people mustbe formal (at a predetermined place andtime), by delivery of written information
or notification at least two days before.
Suspects also have the right to appear with
their lawyers. As a result, these hearings
generally take a long time to occur, as thesesuspects and witnesses must receive thedocument personally by going to police
headquarters. Sometimes it takes longtime for the police to find their addresses.
Additionally, there is the fact that only after
the third legal notice or invitation, formallydelivered and not attended, can the suspect
or witness be taken as soon as he/she isfound to the police station to provide
information about the case underinvestigation.
Regarding search and seizure, problems
originate in obtaining orders and in the
delay (on the part of the judges) in issuing
the judicial order. The judges always senda requisition for an order of search andsizure, to be done by the police, to verify
the position of the Department of Justice.
Another problem occurs at the moment ofsearch in the houses, companies, etc. of thesuspect, when it is necessary (due to an actof law) to have the presence of two
witnesses that are preferably not

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policeofficers. People refuse to collaborate
under several pretexts, above all, due tofear of reprisal in the future, as they haveno guarantee that the police will provide
effective and lasting security.
In shadowing and observations, the mostcommon problems are generated by thelack of integration and trust between the
different police groups in Brazil - Federal
Police, Federal Highways Police, Military
Police and Civil Police. Due to the fact that
there is no hierarchy and because ofproblems of internal corruption, they do notreceive communications from each otherabout ongoing work.
Thus, in the development of surveillance
operations, the population always
denounces the presence of suspicious
people to the Military Police, whichapproach the suspect, i.e the police at workin the area, as if they were criminals. Thisis commonplace due to the high rate ofurban violence that exists in the country,
and many times they compromise thesecrecy of the operation.
III. METHODS FOR OBTAINING
COOPERATION WITH WITNESSESTO PUNISH ORGANIZEDCRIMINALS
A. Immunity
According to Brazilian law for combatingorganized crime, there is only the potentialthat the penalty will be reduced to one or
two thirds, when the spontaneous
collaboration of the author will lead toclarifying the penal infractions and theirauthorship. There is not any precept of
immunity.
In relation to this spontaneous
collaboration, it can be said that it does nothave practical effect in Brazil, as thisbenefit was created ten years ago in the
Law of Violent Crimes and, up to the168

moment, in practice has had no effect,
rarely being applied. Delinquents knowthat when they betray their accomplices
they will not have a long life in jail. And
the Brazilian State is in such a bad
financial situation that it will not build
special prisons for criminals who
collaborate with justice officials. The
horizon is not a very promising one, unless
the State can search for more
encompassing solutions for the problem
than the simple legislative insertion of suchmeasures.
The Programme for the Protection ofVictims and Witnesses constitutes the only
existing method in Brazil to obtain thecooperation of people, aimed at thepunishment of individuals connected toorganized crime. Nevertheless, it is
impossible to assure the security of people
in Brazil.
B. Witness and Victim Protection
Programmes
The national programme for theprotection of victims and witnesses who
have been threatened, was created byFederal law in July 1999. The programmecame into effect in August of that year, andthe people who are entitled to theprotection programme are those without
decreed imprisonment and their relatives
who have lived with them habitually. The
protection can be requested by the witness
him/herself, or by the victim, theDepartment of Justice, the police, the judge
who is responsible for the criminal process,or by public agencies and entities for the
defense of the human rights.
The programs are funded with moneyfrom the State and Federal governments
and executed by non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs). They have thefollowing measures:(i)Transference of residence;(ii) Monthly financial aid per person;

116TH INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSEPARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS(iii) The supply of food and clothing;(iv) Safety when they go from one place
to another;(v) Help to find a job in the work
market;(vi) Removal of public employees
without any loss of renumeration;(vii) Social, psychological and medical
assistance;(viii) Change of identity.
IV. COMPONENTS AND LEGALFRAMEWORKS FOR COMBATING
TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZEDCRIME
A. Criminalization of Participationin an Organized Criminal Group
According to the Brazilian legislation,
the punishment of criminals from groupsof organized crime is done according to the
sanctions foreseen for each crime. No
special circumstance exists due to the factthat the offender has committed a crime
or crimes when he/she was participating
in a organized crime group.
The criterion for the punishment of thoseparticipating in groups of organized crime,
according to what is established in theBrazilian Penal Code, are the examples
below:(i) when the accusation is for only one
crime, the suspect will becondemned to the sanctions of thatpenal type;(ii) when the charge is for two or morecrimes, by means of more than one
action, that is, more than one act orommission, the sanction will beapplied in a cumulative way, that is,they are arithmetically added; and(iii) when the accusation is for comitting
two or more crimes by means of only
one action, then there is theapplication of the most severe
sanction that is applicable, but
increased from one sixth to one half.

B. Anti- Money Laundering Systems
According to what is demonstrated byinternational experience, one of the mostimportant aspects for the prevention of theoffense of money laundering is perfectionof the administrative system and financial
controls.
As a result, the law for the prevention
and combat of money laundering in Brazil
was created in 1998, along with a criminal
policy aimed at this objective. This gave
rise to a system against money laundering
which initially appears in the law itself,with the criminalization of the behavior ofmoney laundering. From then on we had
a special law considering the launderingof money as a crime, beyond our old Penal
Code. Also came the creation of the Councilof Financial Activities (COAF), which
aimed at discipline, applying
administrative sanctions, receiving,examining and identifying suspectoccurrences of illicit activities related to thelaundering of money. It’s aim was also tocoordinate and propose mechanisms for thecooperation and exchange of informationthat could provide quick and efficientactions in the combat, cover-up or
dissimulation of goods, rights and values.
The COAF is comprised of public employees
from several federal agencies, such as thepolice, auditors, etc. We also created, at
the Central Bank of Brazil, the Department
for the Combat of Financial and Exchange
Illicit Acts. This department was
designated to be in charge of the generalmonitoring of the financial market, and is
the main agency to receive allegations
made by the COAF in relation to thefinancial system.
At the Federal Police Department was
created the Division for the Repression ofInternational Organized Crime, with
headquarters in the capital of the country,
but with police trained for investigations
throughout Brazil. This department is in

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charge of the ascertaining information ontransnational organized crime activities.

to let them go free (after they receive somebribe).

C. Asset Forfeiture System (forAssets Derived from Organized
Crimes)For goods and merchandise or real
property acquired as product of crime, even
if these have already been registered in thename of person or persons without any
connection with the crime, the Brazilian
procedural law has only one instituteavailable, which is for the seizure of goods.
For seizure it is necessary that there arestrong indications of the illicit origin of thegoods. Brazil does not have an asset
forfeiture system that is specifically appliedin cases of organized crime.

In our country, in order to perform thee x t r a d i c t i o n c o r r e c t l y, a f t e r t h eidentification and confirmation of the place
where the person, who is searched for isstaying, and after the extradiction by theCentral National Office of the Interpol andthe issuing of a Warrant of Arrest by thehighest court of Brazil, the Federal
Supreme Court, the person who is searched
is generally arrested by the Brazilian
Federal Police. The Supreme Court ofBrazil has determined that people arrested
for extradiction remain under custody inthe jail of the Federal Police Department,in order to avoid escape, as this always
occurs when these people remain incommon prisons.

V. BEST PRACTICE IN
EXERCISING INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION IN CRIMINAL
MATTERS (EXTRADICTION AND
MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE) TO
TACKLE TRANSNATIONALORGANIZED CRIME
In the case of existing treaties or theformalization of reciprocity agreements for
extradition, the best way to practiceinternational cooperation in relation totransnational organized crime is theguarantee of the imprisonment and handover of the person to be extradicted to thecountry that is making the request, after
the adoption of the appropriate legal
orders.
Due to its large extension, Brazil has
always received a large number ofmembers from international organizedcrime groups, which have remained in the
country by using several tactics which
include the corruption of public authorities
and police for safe and incognito
permanence. Regularly these criminals
use their financial powers to convince somepoorly paid civil, military and state police

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