Failed enforcement: indigenous objects containing animal parts are freely sold online
A 2-month investigation into animal feather smuggling and how companies benefit from exploiting indigenous communities in Brazil
Portuguese versionInvestigative reporting
UOL
Revista Piauí
Tracking deforestation agents that not even the government knew about
This journalistic investigation utilized spatial data to find several individuals involved in deforestation in the Amazon region, previously unknown to the Brazilian authorities. Our project made the government fine the people involved in R$ 1.5 million (around US$ 300,000)
Portuguese version
Revista Piauí
Political Backing Fuels Land Grabbing in Brazil's Distrito Federal
In the Distrito Federal, Brazil, a significant issue of land grabbing in conservation areas is emerging, intensified by political support. These activities are particularly rampant in the Colônia Agrícola 26 de Setembro, a settlement approximately 26 km from the Palácio do Planalto, housing around 35,000 residents. This area, characterized by its lack of urban infrastructure and public services, was largely built on public lands designated for conservation.
Portuguese version
Revista Piauí
Land Grabbing, Gold Mining, and Cocaine Trade in the Amazon
This investigation, written in Portuguese, uncovers a scheme in the Amazon region called "agropó" that combines land grabbing, illegal mining, and international cocaine trafficking. The investigation reveals that wealthy landowners, such as Janio Oliveira, have been involved in this lucrative criminal network.
Portuguese version
InfoAmazonia
Pulitzer Center
Amazon Underworld
A 1-year cross-border series of articles that mapped the presence of organized crime groups in the Amazon region and reported on the field about the impacts of their actions. I coordinated the data analysis and obtained the documents needed for the stories.
English version Portuguese version
Revista Piauí
OCCRP
A world heritage site under attack in Brazil
Brazilwood is being driven to extinction by an industry not often associated with organized crime: classical music. Tests on a sample of the confiscated wood show it was logged in a protected forest.
English version Portuguese version
Revista Piauí
Brazilian Report
How Brazil's environmental agency lost R$ 1 billion
An investigation about how environmental fines "disappeared" from Brazil's environmental agency office, Ibama, helping several environmental offenders save money and continue deforestation in the Amazon.
Portuguese version English version
Revista Piauí
OCCRP
Brazilian Bow Makers Investigated For Dealing in Endangered Wood
A 2-month cross-border investigation in the US, UK, and Brazil about a group of bowmakers suspicious of trafficking an endangered Brazilian wood to make violin and cello bows. I have coordinated this project.
English version Portuguese version
BBC
Columbia (Master's Thesis)
Brazil might lose R$ 300 million in environmental fines by 2022 (BBC)
Internal documents show that Brazil is not only not punishing deforestation but, according to the interviewees, companies feel that fines are not a deterrent to criminal behavior as they often expire without enforcement.
Read in Portuguese
Revista Piauí
OCCRP
How Endangered Brazilian Timber Ends Up in the Bronx
A long journalistic investigation reveals how gang members in Brazil have managed to illegally extract and export yellow ipe wood to the USA in a highly profitable fraud scheme.
English version Portuguese version
Revista Piauí
OCCRP
Brazilian politicians and authorities have hid secret funds in Luxembourg
Coordinated by OCCRP, Le Monde, and 15 other media partners around the world, this project has revealed how secret companies have been used for crime and corruption. The data was obtained by scraping Luxembourg's business register website.
English version Portuguese version
The Intercept Brasil
OCCRP
How China Tobacco's worldwide expansion is keeping Brazilian tobacco growers in debt (OCCRP, The Intercept)
A cross-border investigation on the world's largest tobacco company and how it is flooding countries with cigarettes and working with smuggling networks. We found, in Brazil, that farmers are living in debt and even commiting suicide.
English version
Revista Piauí
OCCRP
How Illegal Land Grabs in Brazil’s Amazon Feed the Global Beef Industry
Land grabs and deforestation have devastated Brazil’s northern Pará state. But slaughterhouses, including some owned by top meat processors JBS and Marfrig, still buy from suppliers who source from ranches on stolen land. This story was made in partnership with Fiquem Sabendo, the non-profit data agency that I co-founded.
English version Portuguese version