Brazilian Influencer Renato Cariani Faces Up to 51 Years in Prison in Drug Case

Prosecutors in the Brazilian state of São Paulo (MP-SP) have asked the court to convict businessman and influencer Renato Cariani of drug trafficking and money laundering. They filed their closing arguments on October 21. Specifically, they accuse him of criminal association for drug trafficking, trafficking in precursor chemicals used to make drugs, and money laundering.

Cariani has more than 11 million followers on Instagram. He is a partner in the company Anidrol, which sells laboratory chemicals and is based in Diadema, in the São Paulo metropolitan area. The company is said to have passed chemicals on to drug traffickers, who used them to produce drugs by the ton, mainly crack and cocaine. Cariani is free, and no verdict has been reached yet.

Sentencing range of 16 to 51 years

If the court fully accepts the prosecution's request, each defendant faces a prison sentence of 16 years and 4 months up to 51 years and 8 months in a closed regime, plus fines, according to defense lawyer Anderson Almeida. The calculation covers criminal association for drug trafficking as well as 59 counts each of precursor chemical trafficking and money laundering.

According to Almeida, the calculation includes an increase of two-thirds because the offenses could be treated as a continuing crime. That is provided for by Súmula 659 of Brazil's Superior Court of Justice (Superior Tribunal de Justiça, STJ). Regardless of the total sentence, the time actually served in Brazil is capped at 40 years, the lawyer said.

Prosecutors are seeking the same convictions for two co-defendants. Fábio S. is said to have sold the chemicals and acted as a link between the company and buyers in the drug trade. Rodrigo P. is said to have deposited cash and concealed the illegal proceeds. For Cariani's business partner at Anidrol and another woman, who were also named in the federal police investigation, prosecutors asked for acquittal.

Sham sales and closeness to a police officer

According to Gaeco, a special unit of the prosecutor's office against organized crime, the company faked sales 59 times to companies that had never ordered the products. Cariani himself is said to have created the sham orders. On February 26, 2018, he allegedly permitted goods to be picked up outside business hours that had been billed to the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca: 100 liters of diethyl ether and 50 kilograms of lidocaine hydrochloride. He is said to have presented the federal police with pickup receipts bearing forged license plates, documents and driver's licenses.

Investigators also rely on messages from Cariani's phone. According to Gaeco, these show a close relationship with a civil police officer who was responsible for monitoring chemicals used in drug production. Cariani allegedly received information about the officer's investigative steps and suggested companies for inspection, according to Gaeco also to harm competitors. When the officer asked about a substance, he allegedly replied in April 2019 that it was used to increase the yield of cocaine.

The investigation began in 2019. At that time, AstraZeneca told prosecutors that in 2017 Anidrol had issued invoices for chemical deliveries that the company did not recognize as its own. In December 2023, Cariani was one of the targets of Operation Hinsberg; that same month, the federal police formally named him a suspect. In February 2024, the court accepted the indictment. Cariani had previously said his company was the victim of a gang that diverted chemicals.

Defense expects acquittal

Cariani's lawyer Aldo Romani Netto said in a statement to the news portal g1 that he received the request "with calm" and that it was "no surprise." In its own closing arguments, he said, the defense will show, based on the evidence presented, that the allegations are unfounded.

"We trust that the courts will ultimately deliver a fair verdict based on an impartial review of the evidence," Romani said. "We are convinced that this verdict will lead to the acquittal of Renato Cariani."