Weekend sweep at Guarulhos nets fugitives, fake passports and drug couriers

In a 17–18 November 2025 enforcement blitz, the Federal Police at São Paulo/Guarulhos airport captured six fugitives wanted for crimes ranging from drug trafficking to domestic violence, seized two fraudulent passports (Chinese and Peruvian) and arrested a Paraguayan passenger carrying nearly one kilo of cocaine strapped to his legs.

The operation relied on biometric e-gates, scanner-imaging and data-sharing with Ameripol’s anti-smuggling unit. The Peruvian suspect was detected when his altered passport failed an ICAO PKI check, illustrating how Brazil’s upgraded document-verification hardware closes loopholes that counterfeiters have exploited.



For global-mobility programmes the message is clear: travellers presenting damaged or recently renewed passports may face extra scrutiny as algorithms flag anomalies. Companies should audit employees’ document integrity and ensure that third-country contractors do not attempt to transit with forged papers, which carry penalties of up to five years’ imprisonment in Brazil.

The PF added that joint canine and X-ray patrols will be intensified ahead of the Christmas travel peak and COP30 influx, advising airlines to brief crews on behavioural indicators of internal-body drug concealment and to reinforce carrier-liability rules under Law 11.343/2006.