STJ annuls arrest of drug dealer arrested by Municipal Guard near school

Minister Ribeiro Dantas, from the 5th Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), decided to accept a request for Habeas Corpus (HC) filed by the São Paulo Public Defender’s Office in favor of a man who was sentenced to five years in prison for drug trafficking drugs. The arrest took place near a school.

When justifying the decision, Dantas argued that the man was approached and arrested by agents from the Municipal Guard who, according to the minister’s understanding, had acted outside their powers.

“It is only possible for the Municipal Guards to exceptionally carry out personal searches if there is, in addition to just cause for the measure (founded suspicion of possession of a criminal offense), a clear, direct and immediate relationship with the need to protect the integrity of assets and facilities or ensure the adequate execution of municipal services, which should not be confused with permission to carry out overt or investigative activities typical of the Military and Civil Police to combat ordinary urban crime”, says an excerpt from the decision.

The HC’s judgment was in accordance with the STJ’s understanding of the issue, even after the Federal Supreme Court (STF) recognized municipal guards as security bodies.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office also tried to maintain the arrest by filing an appeal due to the fact that the arrest took place near a school, but the argument was not accepted by Minister Ribeiro Dantas.

The magistrate remained attached to the report of the arrest, which was carried out following an anonymous trafficking complaint. Before the approach, the suspect tried to flee.

Courts make it difficult to combat drug trafficking

This is not the first time that the STJ has acted in favor of those accused of drug trafficking.

In May of this year, the Court decided to acquit a man convicted of the crime on the grounds that the criminal’s confession to the police about the place where he stored 257 cocaine pins had been made under “police stress” and, therefore, could not be considered to prove the commission of the crime. There was no record of torture or any type of abuse by police officers in the case in question.

Two months earlier, following the same understanding, the Court of Justice of Mato Grosso do Sul (TJ-MS) acquitted a man who confessed to storing no less than two tons of narcotics in his residence.

The magistrates’ argument was that the fact that there had been an anonymous complaint does not constitute a well-founded suspicion and, therefore, would not legitimize the police officers’ entry into the house without a court order – an understanding very similar to that used in the recent STJ decision mentioned at the beginning of the report. .

In June, the 2nd Panel of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) decided to annul the seizure of 695 kilos of cocaine found by the Federal Police (PF) in the Port of Itaguaí, in Rio de Janeiro.

The location of the drugs was possible due to an anonymous tip received by the police during the operation, which also caught two drug dealers who were at the scene.

Unanimously, the ministers invalidated the evidence on the grounds that the police entered the premises without a search and seizure warrant.