Son of prospector who moved BRL 200 million is arrested after helicopter crash

The Federal Court in Roraima accepted a request from the Federal Police and ordered the arrest of Celso Rodrigo de Mello, son of garimpeiro Rodrigo de Mello.

Known as Rodrigo Cataratas, the garimpeiro is the subject of investigations in which he is identified as the leader of a group suspected of moving BRL 200 million in two years, with part of the amounts coming from the illegal extraction of gold in the Yanomami indigenous land.

In the arrest warrant, the PF points to new suspicious transactions discovered by investigators and to an accident involving a helicopter belonging to the group that resulted in the death of two people. The arrest warrant against Mello was carried out on Saturday (5).

The aircraft involved in the accident was one of those targeted by the PF as it was used to transport people and gold extracted from the indigenous reserve.

“It is important to highlight that the air accident reported herein is not a fact to be considered in isolation, and must be viewed in the context of the investigation produced in the police investigation records, in which there is sufficient evidence of authorship and materiality to indicate the practice of potentially crimes attributable to the defendants”, says an excerpt from the demonstration in which the Federal Public Ministry agrees with Mello’s arrest request.

The aircraft involved in the accident was seized in 2021 by the PF, but was returned in January 2022 to Rodrigo Cataratas’ group by order of federal judge Maria do Carmo Cardoso, of the TRF-1 (Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region).

After the return, the group, according to the PF, returned to use the aircraft even with the certificate of airworthiness canceled and, in July, there was an accident that resulted in the death of two people.

One of the dead, Agnaldo Pereira da Costa, was already being investigated by the PF for allegedly acting as a pilot for the group in the irregular transport of gold.

The PF reached Costa after finding exchanges of messages and bank transfers with members of the investigated group.

In the case of Rodrigo Cataratas’ son, the PF also identified the receipt of approximately R$ 1.2 million transferred by the father.

One of the investigators’ suspicions is that the values ​​may have been used in the purchase of the helicopter that was later involved in the accident with two fatal victims.

The group led by Cataratas owns enterprises that received funds from the federal government, mainly for air transport related to indigenous health, such as the Sheet revealed in September 2021.

Two Mello companies, Cataratas Poços Artesianos and Icaraí Turismo Táxi Aéreo, have received BRL 39.5 million from the Union since 2014, the largest share – BRL 23.5 million to Icaraí – in the Bolsonaro government.

The headquarters of Cataratas in Boa Vista has already been the target of a helicopter seizure action, carried out jointly by PF, Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) and Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).

Mello is suspected of leading a logistical operation that guarantees the illegal exploitation of ores on Yanomami land, mainly gold and cassiterite. In October 2021, he was the target of the first phase of the Urihi Wapopë operation, which investigates illegal mining in indigenous territory.

In a demonstration sent to the courts, Mello’s defense stated that the prisoner “has safe-conduct” granted by the TRF-1 and claims that the delegate of the case committed illegalities to cut up the prospector’s son.

The defense asks the investigator to consider himself a suspect to act in the case. “All this affronts not only the investigated, but the legislation itself, which will possibly lead to the nullity of the police investigation”, says part of the demonstration.

In a text sent to acquaintances, Rodrigo Cataratas also mentioned the safe-conduct and stated that the PF investigation is a “way of persecuting his family”.