The “Robbery of the Century”: The biggest Brazilian forensic genetics case

Abstract

In the early hours of April 24, 2017, an audacious robbery took place in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. Burglars, heavily armed and with explosives, heisted the cash-transit company Prosegur office and stole about $ 11.7 million. The robbery had several developments, related crime scenes and suspects arrested. Crime scene traces and suspect reference materials were collected by Brazilian federal forensic experts, aiming to obtain genetic profiles to confirm the arrestees’ connection to the crime scene and to supply the National DNA Database (BNPG) for comparisons and eventual new identifications, in order to assist the investigation. All materials were sent to the Brazilian Federal Police Forensic DNA Laboratory. The investigation culminated in the collection of 457 pieces of evidence, making this the largest case ever received by this forensic DNA laboratory. At the end of the process, almost 580 samples were obtained and analyzed, many of them in the first 10 days after receiving the materials. In total, 47 profiles were uploaded into the database, 11 of which with identified sources. In National and in Federal Police DNA Databases, 17 profiles matched others from 21 unrelated crime scenes, with seven more individuals identified. These hits linked the Prosegur burglary in Paraguay to crimes in six different Brazilian states between 2013 and 2020. All these crimes, among others of federal or state jurisdiction, were carried out by one large criminal organization that has been fought with the help of forensic genetics through the Brazilian National DNA Database. The investigation of this crime, based mostly on evidence obtained from DNA, has been internationally recognized and now serves as proof of the forensic genetics’ efficiency in property crime resolution, something important in the current context of Brazilian legislation.