STJ annuls evidence and blocks investigation against drug dealer André do Rap

The 6th panel of the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) annulled the evidence and closed the police inquiry against drug trafficker André de Oliveira Macedo, known as André do Rap. Unanimously, the ministers understood that the police officers who served the arrest warrant against the accused, in September 2019, in the municipality of Angra dos Reis, committed a series of illegalities, such as collecting documents. The court order did not include search and seizure. André is one of the leaders of the First Capital Command (PCC).

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Pretrial detention was decreed in 2014 by the Federal Police’s Oversea operation. André was accused of being part of a criminal organization that uses the Port of Santos (SP) to ship drugs to Europe.

When the police carried out the arrest warrant, several assets were seized at the scene, such as documents that showed association with trafficking and money laundering. In the STJ, the defendant’s defense claimed that there was no authorization for such action and asked for the nullity of the evidence obtained.

When analyzing the issue, Minister Rogerio Schetti Minister disregarded the fact that the seized documents showed the relationship between the accused and the investigated crime. For him, as the order was only for arrest, there would be no “concrete element capable of indicating that state agents could locate and seize said assets”.

“Only the collection of goods that are in your direct possession is allowed, as a result of a personal search, but not of all objects garnished in the property that may apparently be linked to some criminal practice,” he said.

“Because it is an invasive measure and that greatly restricts the fundamental right to privacy, entry into someone else’s address must be limited to what is strictly necessary to fulfill the purpose of the diligence”, he added.

According to the rapporteur, there would have been, supposedly, a “true evidentiary fishing inside the residence”, which was disconnected from the objective of merely complying with the arrest warrant. “Since there was no prior judicial authorization to carry out a search and seizure at the applicant’s residence, the illegality of the evidence obtained by such means and, consequently, of all acts arising therefrom”, determined the minister.

Unanimously, the collegiate followed the understanding of the rapporteur.

André do Rap has been on the run since October 10, 2020, when he was released by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), by a decision by former Minister Marco Aurélio Mello. On the same date, a new decision by the Court ordered his immediate return to prison. However, he did not return.

The fugitive was sentenced to 25 years in prison for international drug trafficking in 1st and 2nd instances. He is appointed as leader of the largest criminal faction in São Paulo and operated in the drug export scheme at the Port of Santos, the largest in Latin America.