Rio de Janeiro police seize weapons, drugs and cloned‑plate car in raids

Police operations in the state of Rio de Janeiro resulted in the arrest of multiple suspects and the seizure of firearms, ammunition, illicit drugs and vehicles with falsified registration plates.

In the Irajá neighborhood of Rio's North Zone, three armed men were detained by the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro (PCERJ) and the Federal Highway Police (PRF). Officers recovered three 7.62 mm rifles, 24 magazines, 430 rounds of ammunition, a signal‑jamming device, a communications radio, holsters, vehicle plates and the suspect's Toyota Corolla, which had been stolen on 7 April and fitted with cloned official‑vehicle plates.

A separate operation by the Specialized Police Company (CPE) in Pires do Rio led to the arrest of a 41‑year‑old man accused of storing drugs and weapons for a fugitive criminal leader. Police seized a .40 caliber pistol with two magazines, a 12‑gauge shotgun listed as lost since 2022, about 2.9 kg of marijuana, 120 rounds of mixed calibre ammunition, precision scales, a vacuum‑sealing machine, a knife with drug residue and two notebooks documenting drug‑trafficking movements. A white Fiat Argo with cloned plates, linked to a fraud case in São Paulo, was also confiscated.