Brazil police raid agricultural minister’s home, source says

Brazil’s Agriculture Minister, Blairo Maggi attends the ceremony of the mining reform, at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on July 25, 2017. (File photo by Reuters)

BRASILIA: Brazil’s federal police conducted a raid and search operation at the house of Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi in Brasilia, related to an ongoing bribery and graft scandal, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said on Thursday. According to the source, the raid is linked to a plea deal by former Mato Grosso state governor Silval Barbosa, who accuses Maggi of participating in a corruption scheme.
Maggi, a former governor of Mato Grosso, is under investigation for his role in the scheme.
Mato Grosso is a major producer of soybeans, grains and cattle.
The news was first reported by TV Globo earlier in the day.
Efforts to contact Maggi’s press representatives in Brasilia were unsuccessful.