Brazil: Searches over around 540 kilograms of shark fins

In the coastal city of Piúma in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo, the Brazilian Federal Police launched Operation Conexão Oceano on August 21, 2026. Supported by the environmental agency Ibama, it executed four search and seizure warrants at residential addresses and other properties connected to the person under investigation. The investigations concern alleged environmental crimes related to illegal fishing and possible smuggling.

The starting point is an Ibama inspection in 2024. At that time, the authorities in Piúma confiscated around 540 kilograms of frozen shark fins. According to the federal police, there were indications of irregular storage and marketing, including fins from an endangered shark species. The authorities did not disclose which species it was.

The trail leads to a 2024 seizure

The original report by A Gazeta was published on September 13, 2024, and states Tuesday, September 10, 2024, as the day of the seizure. According to this, the goods had been sent from Santa Catarina to Piúma, were to be processed there, and then exported to Asia. This information expands the brief current statement of the Federal Police; it is part of the reporting on the background and not yet a final investigative result.

The investigators are also examining whether false invoices or other inaccurate tax documents were intended to conceal the origin of the goods. According to the Federal Police, the information collected so far points to a multi-state supply and distribution chain. Who is said to have delivered or received the fins has not been publicly named so far.

Assets worth up to 8.6 million reais secured

In addition to the searches, the Brazilian federal judiciary ordered provisional asset measures. Financial assets were blocked and movable as well as immovable property were declared unavailable up to a total amount of 8.6 million reais. Such a precautionary measure is not a conviction, but is intended to preserve access to potential assets during the ongoing proceedings.

During the four searches, officers seized mobile phones and documents. Forensic analyses are now intended to identify possible recipients of the goods, collaborators, and other participants in the investigated trade chain. The Federal Police did not report any arrests in their publication.

What is established — and what remains open

Documented are the earlier seizure of around 540 kilograms of fins, the four judicial search warrants, the securing of equipment and documents, as well as the asset measures. Still unresolved, however, are the exact species composition of the goods, the origin of the animals, the fisheries and companies involved, and the question of which individual shipments violated which regulations.

From 540 kilograms of fins, no reliable number of killed sharks can be derived without information on species, sizes, processing, and composition. Likewise, finding fins alone does not prove that the animals were finned at sea and their bodies subsequently thrown overboard. Why finning and fin trade must be considered separately is shown by our summary of a global trade study.

Investigation follows the supply chain

Piúma is located on the coast of the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. If the suspicion of a supply chain across several Brazilian states is confirmed, investigators must not only consider the storage location. What would then be crucial are the catch and landing, transport documents, processing, sale, and possible export.

For Brazil, the case is therefore relevant beyond the individual seizure: Without reliable species identification and verifiable origin, it is hardly possible to check whether endangered species are affected or whether documents correspond to a legal delivery. The federal police announced that they will continue the investigations and identify possible further participants. Until the conclusion, the presumption of innocence applies to the person concerned.