The baggage exchange system at Guarulhos International Airport involved simulating checkin and talking between group members in codes. The details were revealed in a report by TV Globo’s Fantástico this Sunday.
What happened:
One of the first steps of the criminal plan was the alleged checkin. In the pictures, an employee of the Gol airline simulates carrying out the procedure with a man carrying a suitcase, but no receipt is issued. After the wrong checkin, the criminal activity continued in the restricted area of the airport.
The Gol employee was instructed to lie if anyone asked her about luggage delivery. The plan was to say that the suitcase’s owner was just asking for checkin information and that she didn’t know him.
The scheme also involved the use of codes. In an audio recording intercepted by the PF, caregiver Carolina Pennachiotti, 35, complains about the work and says she’s hungry and waiting to send “the ball.” The ball would mean shipping cocaine.
Footage shows how the scheme worked:
Images obtained by Fantástico on October 23 last year show a car arriving at the airport and exiting the driver. A man comes down with a suitcase full of cocaine.
Tamiris Zacharias, 31, a Gol employee, is recorded with a phone in her hand near a checkin area. The man with the suitcase, also holding a cell phone, meets Tamiris and together they arrive at the service desk.
She takes the luggage as if she would do it normally, but only acts and does not issue a receipt. The suitcase loaded with cocaine goes to the assembly line and Tamiris exits the window, accompanied by the man, who then leaves alone. He has not been identified.
According to the broadcast, the suitcase contained 43 kilos of cocaine. In Lisbon, Portugal, no criminals showed up to pick up the drug.
The next step in the restricted area was carried out by employee Deivid Souza Lima. He knows that cameras are filming the place, so he places a suitcase in such a way that no one can see what’s happening behind it. At that moment, another employee named Pedro Venâncio takes the tag from a bag and puts it in his pocket. About 15 minutes later, the bag with the medication appears.
Then Pedro sticks the stolen label on the suitcase with 43 kilos of cocaine. The cocaine shipped traveled to Paris, France, and there the criminals attempted to take the drug but were arrested.
The PF identified three criminals accused of leading the airport gang. One of them is Fernando Reis, nicknamed Brutus. He would have given Tamiris hints on what to say when asked about checkin.
Carolina’s defense told Fantástico that the arrest violated legal norms and would prove the allegations to be unfounded. WFS Orbital, a thirdparty company Carolina has hired to handle passengers in queues, said it is cooperating with investigations and providing training for its employees.
Tamiris was fired and, in a statement to police, admitted his involvement in the scheme. Gol reported that since April of this year, when it learned about the investigation, it made itself available to the authorities and denied such criminal acts.
Deivid’s lawyers, Pedro Venâncio and Brutus, preferred not to comment.