PR84517

SEATTLE and TACOMA, Washington, June 25, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-- DNA identifies members of notorious Brazilian gang in high-stakes robbery of

cash transit facility

Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs (GTH-GA) has announced that a case

known as the "Robbery of the Century" was selected as the 2020 DNA Hit of the

Year. The case was selected from 50 cases submitted from 20 countries. It was

chosen by a panel of seven international judges with career backgrounds in

forensic DNA and law enforcement. The recognition was announced during the

annual Human Identification Solutions (HIDS) Conference held virtually this

year.

Now in its fourth year, the DNA Hit of the Year program is organized by GTH-GA,

an international authority on DNA database policy, legislation, and law. "The

2020 slate of cases exemplifies the extraordinary power of DNA databases to

solve crime, identify the missing, and exonerate the innocent," said Tim

Schellberg, GTH-GA's President. A full list of submitted cases and a

presentation on this year's program can be found at

http://www.dnaresource.com/hitoftheyear-2020.html.

Named the "Robbery of the Century" by the Brazilian media, this crime occurred

in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, but was committed by members of Brazil's largest

criminal organization and investigated by the Brazilian Federal Police. On

April 24, 2017, an estimated 50 heavily armed gang members crossed the border

into Paraguay and blew up a Prosegur cash transit facility in pursuit of $40

million USD stored in company vaults.

After testing an extraordinary 457 separate pieces of evidence recovered from

the crime scene for DNA, the crime lab produced 47 separate crime scene

profiles. Brazil used its DNA database to link many of the profiles to other

serious crimes, including matching 13 of the 47 profiles to criminals suspected

of taking part in the crime. Due to recent investments by the Brazilian

government to expand their criminal offender DNA databases, it is believed that

most of the 47 profiles left at the crime scene will eventually match to

offenders placed into the Brazil DNA database.

Federal Police Director General Rolando Alexandre de Souza said: "The Prosegur

(Robbery of the Century) case highlights the value of Brazil's DNA database

program to solve crime. The Brazil DNA database is rapidly expanding. This will

have a significant impact on solving crime and will make our communities safer

from violence."

"Being recognized as the DNA Hit of the Year is a great privilege and an honor.

I am proud of the men and woman of our police force that worked very hard to

collect and test DNA to help bring the criminals responsible for this crime to

justice," said Director General de Souza.

About GTH-GA: GTH-GA is globally recognized as experts in forensic DNA database

policy, legislation, and law. For over twenty years, consultants at GTH-GA have

consulted in over 50 countries and states on legislation and policies to

establish or expand criminal DNA databases.

SOURCE Gordon Thomas Honeywell Governmental Affairs

CONTACT: Tim Schellberg tims@gth-gov.com  +1 253 209-8818