by Michael Hone
Federal Prosecutors Join Investigation
RECIFE, Brazil – Two days after seizing a second container with 23 tons of medical waste illegally shipped from the United States bound for a textile company in Pernambuco, the Customs Revenue Office at the Port of Suape has asked Federal Prosecutors to enter the case.
According to the chief customs inspector at Suape, Carlos Eduardo da Costa Oliveira, the involvement of the federal prosecutors is necessary for not only the progress of the investigation but also to help resolve the status of the seized material.
“We are trying to return this garbage to the United States, but under the current rules, we cannot return any goods whose importation is prohibited and may have to destroy it here. However, there was a case in 2009 that, thanks to the involvement of IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environmental and Renewable Natural Resources) and action of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), we were able to return material, such as this, that had been imported from England,” he said.
In 2009, the Federal Court turned to the Basel Convention, of which Brazil is a signatory, to argue that the country had the right to return to England the 41 containers of toxic waste that was seized at the Port of Santos, in Sao Paulo. Authorities investigating the case (revenue, police, MPF and IBAMA) are looking at six more containers that were received from the same shipper in the American state of South Carolina to see if they also contained hazardous medical waste.
On Saturday, O Globo online reported that its reporters on the ground in Pernambuco had located thrift stores selling used sheets marked with the name of the same hospital cooperative whose logo appeared on the baled sheets, some containing blood stains, in the containers seized this week.
Two containers were seized this week. The first was held on Tuesday afternoon by customs revenue officers. The second, from the same shipper, was seized Thursday. Both contained just over 23 tons of sheets, pillowcases, bath towels, robes, pajamas and baby clothes. There were also syringes, hospital gloves, catheters, gauze and bandages mixed in with the textiles.
Read also: More Articles from Brazil Dispatch
Brazilian online news source for this article: O Globo
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