PF seizes weapons in case of slave labor in wineries – 03/17/2023 – Market

The PF (Federal Police) carried out this Friday morning (17) an operation to deepen the investigations and collect new evidence involving the case of the rescue of 207 workers in conditions analogous to slavery, according to the Ministry of Labor, on 22 February in an accommodation in Bento Gonçalves (RS).

The workers came from Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul hired by the company Fênix, owned by businessman Pedro Oliveira de Santana, and provided services to the Aurora, Garibaldi and Salton wineries. Throughout the grape harvest period, according to investigations, they were victims of aggression, extortion and subjected to irregular working hours, in addition to being housed and fed in inhumane conditions.

So far, according to the PF, the investigations have already identified six people involved – who were the targets of the judicial measures carried out in the so-called Operation Descaro. The suspect is that they are part of an organization dedicated to the practice of submission to slave labor.

One of the six involved is a police officer removed from the BM (Military Brigade, the Rio Grande do Sul military police) that week – soldier Márcio Squarcieiri, 39, who worked in Bento Gonçalves (RS)–, suspected of working in security at the Pousada do Trabalhador, housing in the Borgo neighborhood where the workers stayed.

It was from there that six of them fled, according to the victims, to report mistreatment. Due to the alleged involvement of the soldier, the Internal Affairs of BM followed the operation.

Contacted by SheetSquarcieiri’s lawyer, Maurício Cardoso, says that his client denies any connection with the inn and criticizes BM’s Internal Affairs for “lack of caution”.

The lawyer argues that the inspectors used an old photo and suggested the workers link their client to a security guard they identify by the nickname “Scotsman” in the depositions, but who is not the police officer.

The others being investigated are the owner of the company, Santana, businessman Fábio Daros, appointed by workers and local officials as the owner of the accommodation, and three other supposed security guards whose names have not been revealed by the Federal Police. Santana had been arrested on the 22nd, but was released on bail.

In seven search and seizure warrants, six in Bento Gonçalves (RS) and one in Garibaldi (RS), the police seized nine weapons and various ammunition. They would belong to Santana, who has a CAC (Hunter, Shooter and Collector) record.

In Operation Descaro, Squarcieiri had his cell phone and notebook seized at his residence.

Santana’s lawyer, Augusto Giacomini Werner, released a note saying that his client “collaborates with the investigations” and that he is “the most interested in revealing the truth of the facts”. Regarding the weapons, he confirms that they belonged to Santana, but that he “kept them in regular conditions and registered with the competent body” and that they would have been seized so that the “maintenance of the right holder’s suitability” could be verified, due to the inquiry opening.

A Sheet tried to contact Fábio Daros through the telephone numbers of the Pousada do Trabalhador and another company registered in his name from 11:30 am to 2:45 pm this Friday (17th), but did not receive a response.

On March 9, the three wineries that had a contract with Fênix signed a TAC (Term of Adjustment of Conduct) with the MPT-RS (Ministério Público do Trabalho do RS) which provides for 21 obligations and R$ 7 million in compensation. Fênix, however, refused the proposal to sign a TAC and had R$ 3 million blocked by order of the Labor Court.