The 1st Criminal Court of Manaus convicted three men of association for drug trafficking, and two of them also of trafficking, in the case of 889 tablets of skunk cannabis seized from a property in Manaus’ Distrito Industrial II in February this year, in the city’s east zone.[1] The judge of the case handed the sentence on 12 November 2026.[1] The total load weighed about 959 kg gross, but the judge used the more favourable net weight of 512.9 kg when fixing the sentences.[1]
Roberto Ronero Reis Martins, named as the person who kept the drugs at the property, received 14 years and 6 months of imprisonment in a closed regime for trafficking, association for trafficking and possession of restricted ammunition.[1] Ricardo Rincon Barbosa was sentenced to 10 years, 3 months and 15 days in a closed regime for trafficking and association.[1] The third accused, Kristhian Leandro Hernandez Arvelo, was acquitted of trafficking and possession of ammunition but convicted of association for trafficking, receiving 3 years in an open regime replaced by restrictive rights, with his preventive detention revoked.[1]
The sentence also ordered the forfeiture to the federal Union, for the Funad national anti-drug fund, of R$340,171 in cash seized from the group, plus the pick-up used in the operations and mobile phones, and ordered the drugs destroyed.[1]
The police operation began on 7 February 2026, when Denarc monitored a site in the Distrito Industrial II by aerial images.[1] On 9 February teams carried out a search warrant at the property where 889 skunk tablets, restricted ammunition, a briefcase and phones were seized.[1] In the city centre suspects withdrew R$340,100 in cash at a bank on Avenida Guilherme Moreira while the driver waited and tried to flee on the approach, ending with the flagrante arrests of the defendants.[1]
