Most of Brazil city's council under lock & key for corruption

Dourados - Police in Dourados, Brazil executed arrest warrants Wednesday in a sweeping sting that saw the majority of city council arrested on charges of corruption.

The city is presently without any municipal government, reported the Latin American Herald Tribune. The federal-led sting operation saw 200 state and municipal police officers executing warrants, which resulted in the arrests of 28 people, said the Herald Tribune. They are all alleged to have participated in "bidding fraud, ongoing corruption and illicit association." BBC News reported a judge has been given temporary authority to provide municipal governance while the Dourados government is in limbo. Arrested were the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and other elected councillors, and municipal officials, as well as the Mayor's wife, and some departmental secretaries. Details of how the 28 people stole government money are lacking, although some reports state the scheme was "complex." The simple explanation, according to Angola Press is that all arrested allegedly helped themselves to funds paid out to contractors, using the money to bribe officials as well as to finance their election campaigns. The city of Dourados has a population of around 200,000, and the Daily Mail said chaos was the rule for the day after the arrests, although the paper did not provide details of what sort of chaos gripped the city. The Mayor, said the Mail, was arrested in a sting last year for "breaking banking secrecy." Apparently all arrested have not yet been charged. Brazil law allows the police to hold those charged for five days before either releasing the detainees or pressing charges. However, Brazil's Federal Police issued a statement saying that the 28 detained had helped themselves to 10% of municipal contracts. Police also found $100,000 (US) in cash in the mayor's house. Located in the south of Brazil, Dourados does not lure many tourists.