After months of planning, on March 4, businesswoman Kátyna Baía, 44, left with her wife, Jeanne Paolini, 40, for a long-awaited vacation in Europe. The couple would spend 20 days traveling through Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, in celebration of the conclusion of the veterinary residency that Paolini was doing at UnB (University of Brasília). The plans, however, were interrupted. They were arrested upon arriving at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, where they would make a stopover before their final destination, the country's capital Berlin. The accusation was that they would be carrying 40 kg of cocaine in their checked luggage – but the bags were not theirs, according to the Federal Police.
The case triggered an investigation that culminated, last week, in the arrest of six suspects in Operation Iraúna. The Federal Police points out that the drug traffickers' method of action consists of randomly removing labels from checked luggage and attaching them to suitcases containing drugs.
The investigation pointed out the innocence of Kátyna and Jeanne, including images that would prove that the luggage checked by them at the Goiânia airport had the name tags changed at the International Airport of Guarulhos (SP), where they made a stopover.
The results of the Brazilian investigation were forwarded to the German court last Thursday (6), as informed on social networks by the National Secretary of Justice, Augusto de Arruda Botelho. The day before, a custody hearing maintained the arrest of the two Brazilian women, who have been detained for over a month.
Translated by Cassy Dias