A routine police operation on a São Paulo highway led to a major drug seizure and the arrest of a young couple. The pair was caught transporting a massive quantity of marijuana inside a stolen car, a scheme disguised as a romantic getaway.
The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon, May 7th, on the Comandante João Ribeiro de Barros highway (SP-294) in the municipality of Pacaembu. Officers from the Tático Ostensivo Rodoviário (TOR) and the Ficco/SP units, conducting the 'Operação Impacto/Divisa,' spotted a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction and decided to turn around for an inspection.
Upon locating the car, which was already parked on the shoulder, they found only a 23-year-old woman inside. She explained that her 20-year-old boyfriend had promised to pay for a trip to Santos as a gift. However, during the drive, he confessed that the trunk was loaded with drugs and that he would receive R$10,000 for delivering them to the capital.
When the driver realized a police approach was imminent, he abandoned the vehicle and his girlfriend, fleeing into a wooded area with the car keys. A search of the vehicle revealed 358 bricks of marijuana, weighing a total of 308.48 kilograms.
After an extensive search lasting several hours, police located the young man at a gas station around 9:25 PM. He was found attempting to hitchhike back to Mato Grosso do Sul. Officers recovered the car keys from him.
The investigation uncovered further criminal activity. The vehicle had fraudulent license plates, and a check of the engine number confirmed it had been stolen in Ponta Porã, Mato Grosso do Sul, in July 2021. The car's chassis and identification tags had been tampered with.
The couple was taken to the Civil Police station in Adamantina, where they were formally arrested and charged with drug trafficking and receiving stolen property. In addition to the drugs and the vehicle, police also seized two mobile phones and R$765 in cash.
Based on reporting from g1.