-- 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