The drug trafficking in the northwest of Minas Gerais

The article intends to analyze the data collected in 21 files concerning the charges for drug trafficking in 2017, in the State Justice of Unaí (Minas Gerais, Brazil). The research is based on a retrospective flux analysis that evidenced the data concerning the cases and the profile of the defendants. The hypothesis is that the criminal justice system is selective and focuses on the prosecution of the people involved in small drug dealing activities, what is inferred from the profiles of the cases and defendants brought to the State local Justice. It was detected that 100% of the cases initiated in the flagrante delicto. Among that, 58% departed of previous anonymous notice brought to the Police and 21% as a consequence of the Military Police patrol routine. Another important data is that in 86% of the criminal files just one defendant was accused. In summary, the defendants are men (87%), black (71%), mostly inhabitants of the town (62.5%), between 18 and 24 years old (54.16%). In 46% of the cases the defendant did not have even basic education and none of the defendants completed high school. The conclusions of our investigation confirm the results of the research field concerning the prosecution of drug trafficking in the criminal justice system in Brazil.