A joint operation by federal agencies was carried out today (4th) with the aim of dismantling a scheme for the sale of wines smuggled from abroad and sold in Rio de Janeiro with up to 50% of the bottle’s label value. The operation had teams from the Federal Police (PF) and the Federal Revenue, launched on four fronts, and was named after imported wine labels: Bodegas, Estero, Perlage and Cédron.
In the action, 18 search and seizure warrants were carried out at addresses in the municipalities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, in Baixada Fluminense. The court also ordered the blocking of the investigated companies’ social networks, through which the wines were advertised. More than 9,000 bottles of smuggled wine were seized, worth approximately R$ 3 million.
The Federal Revenue, on the other hand, informed, through a note, that the companies involved operated in the e-commerce of smuggled wines, through accounts on Instagram or cell phone, via WhatsApp. The goods sold, almost entirely, consisted of wines that entered Brazil irregularly without due payment of taxes and without the consent and control of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), not complying with the normative disposition of affixing label in Portuguese and the respective approval of the Ministry.
The wines were sold below the price practiced by the regular market, reaching, in some cases, values lower than half the average market price.
The Federal Revenue also explained that regularly imported wines must have a back label in Portuguese indicating the name of the importer, MAPA registration, nomenclature according to quality identity standards, list of ingredients, batch identification, expiration date and alcoholic strength. .
