A federal court in Rio de Janeiro has sentenced Lindomar Reges Furtado, 46, to 37 years in prison for international drug trafficking, criminal organization membership, and money laundering, as reported by ABC Color. The conviction is part of Brazil's Operation Turf, conducted by the Federal Police.
According to investigations cited by Brazilian media outlet Globo, Furtado's organization shipped 6.68 tons of cocaine to Europe and Africa in 14 separate shipments between December 2020 and February 2022. Two additional attempts failed after the drugs were seized. The group employed a bold strategy: stealing sealed containers from the port of Rio, replacing part of the legal cargo with cocaine in warehouses often located within favelas controlled by drug traffickers, then returning the containers to the port for export.
The court stated that all evidence showed Furtado, alongside Cristiano Córdova Nascimento, led a transnational cocaine trafficking organization. He negotiated with drug suppliers in South America and buyers, primarily based in Dubai, and managed the group's financial resources, which were deposited in foreign bank accounts and later smuggled back into Brazil. The cocaine was sourced from Bolivia and Colombia.
Furtado did not testify during the trial. His associate, Cristiano Mendes de Córdova Nascimento, was sentenced to 26 years and 3 months in prison in 2023. The operation was named Turf because Nascimento owned dozens of racehorses, which he allegedly used to launder drug money.
Furtado had lived in Paraguay for an extended period, holding a valid ID card (number 8.666.573). He was in a relationship with Paraguayan Gladys Aparecida Duarte Pereira. On February 15, 2022, the couple escaped from the Paraná Country Club in Hernandarias, Alto Paraná, just 45 seconds before a joint raid by Brazil's Federal Police and Paraguay's National Anti-Drug Secretariat (Senad). ABC Color notes that the escape suggested someone within Senad had tipped them off.
Furtado was eventually captured on February 2, 2025, in another luxury condominium in Rio de Janeiro. He had undergone multiple cosmetic surgeries and used a false name to evade authorities. In Paraguay, he managed the receipt of cocaine from Bolivia and Colombia and its onward shipment to Brazil, and established ties with other criminal organizations, including the network led by Uruguayan Sebastián Marset, which was dismantled in Operation A Ultranza.