Curitiba, 12/10/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Fifty people spent the night in jail at the border crossing with Paraguay yesterday. Among them were 38 federal policemen who are accused of taking bribes to allow contraband and drugs to enter Brazil.

This is the way the corruption scheme worked: smugglers gave money to a man at the border crossing (the money was stashed in plastic bottles). The money was later taken to the police station where the policemen divided up the take.

Because of the large number of border patrolmen accused of involvement, the government has had to relocate others from the states of Paraná, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul and São Paulo to do the work at the border crossing. (AB)