Brazil's Federal Police runs new operation against CAC registration fraud in São Paulo
On October 8, 2026, the Federal Police ran a new phase of Operation Guardiões de Fogo against CAC registration fraud. Official figures and safety tips.
Photo: Marcos Oliveira/Agência Senado, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.On October 8, 2026, Brazil's Federal Police (Polícia Federal, PF) served three search and seizure warrants in Itapecerica da Serra and São Paulo (SP), in a new phase of Operation Guardiões de Fogo ("Guardians of Fire"). The operation investigates firearms obtained through fraud in the registration of collectors, sport shooters and hunters (CACs). At one of the addresses, the PF seized three firearms and ammunition.
Note: the suspects have not been tried. The information below is what the PF had released up to October 19, 2026.
What did the PF investigate on October 8?
According to the PF news release of October 8, 2026, the suspect "allegedly used fraudulent documents to obtain the CAC registration, circumventing the legal requirements for acquiring and keeping firearms".
What other actions have taken place since September?
Guardiões de Fogo has had actions in several states, all announced by the PF in its news releases of September 1, September 3, September 10, September 29 and October 8, 2026:
Date | Place | Result announced by the PF |
|---|---|---|
September 1, 2026 | Salvador (Bahia) | Search targeting a former military police officer suspected of obtaining a CR (Registration Certificate) without meeting the good-character requirement |
September 3, 2026 | Embu das Artes (São Paulo) | 2 pistols (one of restricted caliber) and 142 rounds seized |
September 10, 2026 | Alto Araguaia (Mato Grosso), by the PF in Mato Grosso do Sul | Third phase; firearms, ammunition and documents seized |
September 29, 2026 | Feira de Santana (Bahia) | 44 firearms, R$ 535,000 (Brazilian reais) in cash and about R$ 1 million in checks seized |
October 8, 2026 | Itapecerica da Serra and São Paulo (São Paulo) | 3 firearms and ammunition seized |
In parallel, Operation Polaridade, launched on September 4, 2026 in Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo, served 20 arrest warrants and 26 search warrants. According to the PF, an outsourced worker on the document review team allegedly approved applications in Sinarm-CAC that lacked mandatory documents or contained false ones.
On September 29, 2026, Polaridade seized a 7.62 mm rifle and two pistols at stores in Magé and Duque de Caxias (Rio de Janeiro). With that, the PF reached a total of 10 rifles and 7 pistols seized in the investigation.
How does the fraud happen, according to the PF?
The patterns described in the official news releases are:
- false or invalid documents in the CAC registration application;
- omission of a previous criminal investigation, to pass the good-character check;
- repeated documents across different applicants;
- improper approval of incomplete applications, in the Polaridade case.
Depending on the case, the suspects may face charges of ideological falsehood (falsidade ideológica), use of a false document, entering false data into a system, passive corruption, criminal organization and illegal arms trading.
How can a law-abiding CAC protect themselves?
- Submit your applications yourself through Sinarm CAC, with your gov.br account, or check everything an intermediary sends on your behalf.
- Keep a copy of every document you submitted: certificates, assessments and receipts.
- Check the documents issued to you with the official authenticity verification tool.
- Keep your data up to date and your requirements current, such as good character.
Art. 28 of Decree 11.615/2023 (Decreto 11.615/2023) requires the revocation process for the Firearm Registration Certificate (CRAF) to be opened when there are signs that requirements, such as good character, are no longer met. That is why anyone who did everything by the book should keep their receipts.
See how to access the system in Sinarm CAC: how to access it and issue the transit permit.
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