Rio de Janeiro Tax Authority fines company $675,000 for irregular ethanol transport at RJ‑SP border

The Rio de Janeiro State Revenue Service (Receita Estadual) fined a company 675,000 reais after seizing two ethanol‑carrying tank trucks at the Fiscal Control Post in Nhangapi, Itatiaia, on the border between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The trucks contained a total of 124,000 liters of hydrated ethanol, valued at more than 613,000 reais. The operation, part of “Operação Foco,” was conducted jointly by the State Treasury Secretariat and the Gabinete de Segurança Institucional. The vehicles were flagged by the Sistema de Barreiras Fiscais as "Canal Vermelho," indicating possible tax evasion. The invoice listed a distributor sharing an address with another firm whose state registration had been blocked since May, and the official recipient lacked independent operational capacity, suggesting the cargo was being moved to another irregular establishment. The transporter was charged under State Law 2.657/1996 for tax violations.