Amazonas police officer detained in Manaus teen sex‑exploitation probe

A corporal of the Amazonas Military Police was taken into preventive custody as part of an investigation into the sexual exploitation of two teenage girls, aged 15 and 17, in a property in Manaus’s Petrópolis neighbourhood. The case is being handled by the Specialized Child and Adolescent Protection Department, which says the officer helped manage the location where the exploitation occurred. The investigation began after an NGO reported a missing 15‑year‑old who may have been held at the site. Prosecutors allege the youths were enticed from Itacoatiara with false job promises before being abused. The officer has been suspended from duties and faces administrative discipline, as well as criminal charges related to sexual exploitation and gaining economic advantage from prostitution. Police continue to identify other possible participants and clients in the scheme.