The Federal Police arrested on Monday (4), in Valinhos, the interior of São Paulo, a man of Portuguese nationality suspected of participating in an alleged scheme of international baby trafficking. The suspect, born in the city of Porto, Portugal, had his name not disclosed. Therefore, his defense could not be located. A preventive arrest warrant (without a deadline) was executed against him during Operation Deverra, launched this Monday. Federal agents also executed five search and seizure warrants, three in Itatiba (80 km from the capital of São Paulo).
Police seized 11,000 dollars and 6,000 euros in a law firm in Itatiba, which was responsible for submitting custody requests for the babies. The investigation began on the last day of the month when the Public Prosecutor's Office of Valinhos informed the Federal Police about a newborn who had been abandoned by the mother at the hospital where he was born. The baby, who is still in the hospital, was registered as the child of a man with Portuguese nationality. Investigators noted that, in less than a month, the same man had registered another newborn in the same hospital as his daughter.
According to the Federal Police, paternity records were made through false documents, in different courts in São Paulo. The procedures were accompanied by requests for sole custody of the babies, allowing the man to leave the country with the children without the mother's authorization. Agents identified four trips made by the suspect between Brazil and Portugal in 2015, 2021, and 2023. This year, the man made two trips, with the most recent on October 24. Investigations indicate that, this last time, the suspect took a newborn, less than a month old, to Portugal. When he returned to São Paulo, he was no longer with the baby.