A cell block at the Penitenciária de Registro, a São Paulo state prison, at its opening in December 2020. Photo: Governo do Estado de São Paulo, CC BY 2.0. The Guarulhos jail in this story is a different facility.

Security: Brazil

Brazil’s federal police and São Paulo prosecutors suspect prison officers in Guarulhos, near São Paulo, sold access to inmates. A reported side detail links the case to the murdered informant Vinicius Gritzbach, but it is not confirmed.

What Federal Police Say Happened

On Tuesday 10 November 2026, Brazil’s Federal Police, the national law-enforcement agency, and Gaeco, the anti-organised-crime unit of the São Paulo state prosecutors, carried out 16 arrest warrants and 21 search warrants in seven cities, in a joint task force operation known as FICCO/SP (Força Integrada de Combate ao Crime Organizado, the Integrated Force to Combat Organised Crime). The Federal Police said six prison officers had been arrested so far.

Two more officers were search targets, the Federal Police said in its release. The targets also included inmates, relatives and people suspected of supplying drugs and moving the group’s money.

Investigators suspect the group brought drugs, mobile phones and other banned items into prisons in Guarulhos, including the CDP II provisional detention centre, in the city that hosts São Paulo’s main international airport. They are investigated for criminal association, drug trafficking, and active and passive corruption, meaning both paying and taking bribes.

How the Alleged Scheme Worked

Prosecutors allege, in a Gaeco filing quoted by Brazilian media this week, that officers are alleged to have charged about R$200 (about US$35, at R$5.65 per US$) for each package sent to an inmate without the required inspection. These are allegations from the investigation, and no court has tested them.

The Reported Link to the Gritzbach Case

One Brazilian news column that obtained a Gaeco filing reports that officers discussed, on Wednesday 13 August 2025, a package that relatives of lawyer Ahmed Hassan Saleh, known as Mude, had posted for him while he was held at CDP II. The column quotes a guard asking a colleague whether the shifts lined up.

We could not confirm this account from the filing or from a second source. The same filing, as described, says it does not prove the package was delivered, that it held banned items, or that the lawyer took part in the bribery.

Saleh’s defence was not quoted in the coverage we reviewed.

Bunks in a cell at the Penitenciária de Registro, São Paulo state, December 2020. Photo: Governo do Estado de São Paulo, CC BY 2.0.

Who Gritzbach Was and What the PCC Is

Antônio Vinicius Lopes Gritzbach was a São Paulo businessman who had struck a plea deal with state prosecutors, accusing police officers of corruption. He was shot dead at Guarulhos airport on Friday 8 November 2024.

The PCC, short for Primeiro Comando da Capital, is a criminal group that grew out of São Paulo’s prisons. On 30 May 2026, Brazilian media reported that state prosecutors asked a court to convict 11 defendants in the case built on Gritzbach’s plea, among them Saleh.

The prosecutors also asked for a minimum of R$40 million (about US$7.1 million) in collective damages from each defendant. Those are requests, not rulings.

What It Means for Readers

If the allegations hold, the case shows how a prison can become a market. Cheap, small bribes of the R$200 kind, repeated across many parcels, can keep phones and drugs flowing to inmates and let gangs run business from inside.

For businesses and travellers, the practical effect is limited, because the case concerns São Paulo state prisons and public corruption. For anyone tracking organised crime in Brazil, it adds a prison-side chapter to the Gritzbach story that the courts have yet to resolve.

What Is Not Known

The Federal Police release does not name the suspects, and no court has ruled on any charge. Whether Saleh’s package was delivered, and whether it had any link to the bribery, is unconfirmed.

What to Watch Next

Watch for the Federal Police and the São Paulo prosecutors’ office to name the suspects and for a judge to decide whether to accept formal charges. Watch also for any ruling on the prosecutors’ conviction request in the Gritzbach case.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was arrested in the Guarulhos prison operation?

Six prison officers had been arrested so far on Tuesday 10 November 2026, according to the Federal Police. The agency did not name them, and two more officers were search targets.

What are the suspects accused of?

Investigators suspect the group took bribes to bring drugs, mobile phones and other banned items into prisons in Guarulhos. They are investigated for criminal association, drug trafficking and corruption.

Is the lawyer Ahmed Hassan Saleh charged in this operation?

Nothing we reviewed says he is a target of these arrests. One news report says a package for him was discussed, and the same filing says it is not proven he took part.

Who was Vinicius Gritzbach?

He was a São Paulo businessman who turned informant for state prosecutors and was shot dead at Guarulhos airport on 8 November 2024. Prosecutors have since asked a court to convict 11 defendants in the case built on his plea.