Operation Sinon: Brazil Court Suspends Federal Police Officer Over Leaks

Brazil's Federal Police launched Operation Sinon on 19 August 2026 to investigate a senior officer accused of selling sealed investigation files to businessmen for money. The officer, José Navas Júnior, a 22-year veteran and digital data-security specialist, is suspected of using his access to powerful internal databases to look up sealed case data and then pass it to people under investigation.

These businessmen were allegedly paying for the information, which police call bribery. The operation aimed to thwart criminal activities such as cigarette smuggling, slave labor, money laundering, environmental crime, and the diversion of public funds. Eight search-and-seizure warrants were served across São Paulo state and Rio Grande do Sul, targeting addresses associated with the suspected network.

The officer remained suspended from public duty and barred from police buildings, systems, and technology, but no arrest was reported. The case was handled by the 1st Federal Court of Marília, a first-instance federal court, not Brazil's Supreme Federal Court. Federal prosecutors will decide whether to bring charges, and the presumption of innocence will remain until a final conviction.