Lawyer and seven others arrested in Operation Elo Oculto in Piauí
Piauí's civil police arrested eight people, including lawyer Francisco Batista de França Júnior, in Operation Elo Oculto against a network that moved cannabis from São Paulo to Valença do Piauí and Teresina. Officers enforced 10 arrest and search warrants in Piauí and São Paulo state, following a March 2025 seizure of 293 cannabis tablets in Valença.
🇧🇷 Valença do Piauí, Piauí · Brazil
Arrested
8
Sites
10
Agency
Departamento Estadual de Repressão ao Narcotráfico (Denarc)
Civil police in Piauí arrested eight people, among them a lawyer, in the
Operation Elo Oculto sweep against a drug-trafficking network with links to the
Piauí capital and São Paulo.[1]The lawyer, Francisco Batista de França
Júnior, known as Júnior França, was held under a preventive detention order in
the town of Valença do Piauí, in Piauí’s interior.[2]Teams enforced 10
judicial orders, a mix of arrest and search warrants, in Teresina, Valença do
Piauí and São Paulo state.[1]
Alongside the arrest order, officers searched law offices linked to the lawyer.[2]Denarc coordinator Samuel Silveira said the lawyer had gone beyond the
limits of legal practice and kept a direct link to the criminal group rather
than to a lawyer’s role.[1]
Silveira said the trail led from São Paulo to Valença, where the drugs were
stored and distributed, and that part of the supply also reached Teresina.[1]In the searches officers took phones, computers and other electronic equipment
for forensic analysis.[2]Police said properties were used to hide drug loads,
move money and support the group, and that they are still tracing its finances
and other participants.[1]
Denarc opened the case after a March 2025 seizure in Valença do Piauí of 293
cannabis tablets, later found with another 184 buried in a wooded area, with
four people arrested and two cars and a motorcycle taken.[2]Piauí Hoje
reported that the 2025 haul, which it called the largest ever recorded in the
region, was valued at about R$3 million on the illegal market.[2]
Photos and video
One of the eight people arrested in Operation Elo Oculto, identified as the lawyer Júnior França, in a photograph reproduced without credit.Photo details
Only Piauí Hoje gives the 2025 seizure figures (293 tablets, plus 184 buried); no opened source states a weight for them, so no cannabis quantity or value is recorded for this operation.
The 2025 figures describe the earlier March 2025 seizure that started the investigation, not goods seized in the November 2026 operation; none of the reports say cannabis was found in the 2026 searches.
Cidadeverde and GP1 said about seven people had been arrested while g1 and Piauí Hoje said eight, including the lawyer; the report uses eight.
The reports do not say how the 10 judicial orders divide between arrest and search warrants, or how many people were detained in each city.
Piauí Hoje says the 2025 haul was worth about R$3 million on the illegal market but does not say whose estimate it is, and no other opened source gives a value.
No charges, court outcome or release of any suspect has been reported; the detained people are presumed innocent.
Cidadeverde quotes the Denarc coordinator naming the PCC criminal faction, while g1 and Piauí Hoje speak only of a criminal group.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Cidadeverde.com: Cidadeverde reported about seven arrests at the time of writing and the action spread across Piauí and São Paulo state.
Military police arrested seven suspected drug traffickers in the Água Branca neighbourhood of Contagem and seized 218 kg of cannabis. The suspects, all with prior criminal records, were taken to the Contagem Civil Police station for investigation.
Civil Police arrested three men from Amazonas in a house in Cinturão Verde, Boa Vista, on 10 November 2026 with 201.5 kg of cannabis derivatives, including hashish and cannabis oil. Police valued the load at R$15 million and said it was meant for Rio de Janeiro; the men were booked for trafficking.
Military Police arrested a 36-year-old man, a 30-year-old woman and a 39-year-old buyer during a raid on a suspected drug point in Ponte Nova, Minas Gerais, on 10 November 2026. Officers seized two cannabis tablets alongside crack, cocaine, three phones, bookkeeping notes and R$2,474 in cash, transferring all three to the Civil Police.
Military Police arrested a man and a woman in a ride-hailing car on Rua Aristiliano Ramos in Timbo on 10 November 2026. Officers seized about 500 g of a hashish-like substance in five wraps from the woman's bag and took both suspects to the Civil Police station.
