Video: Police break into luxury penthouse and arrest ‘Ozempic Thief’ in BH

The luxury lifestyle maintained by stealing expensive medications such as Ozempic collapsed: the police broke into the door of a luxury penthouse in the Funcionários neighborhood in Belo Horizonte (BH) to arrest the suspect. The man, known as the ‘Ozempic Thief’, was the target of an operation for a series of thefts of the application pen used for diabetes and weight control. The action of the Civil and Military Police of Minas Gerais was filmed and took place inside a luxury building in the Funcionários neighborhood in the Central-Southern region of BH on Friday (11/7). In the first scene, a civil police officer orders the door to be opened. ‘Police. Open the door,’ exclaims the agent who knocks on the door with his hand and rings the doorbell at the same time. As there is no response, the police officer raises a tactical ram (a heavy, resistant, cylindrical, solid piece with handles used for break-ins). With three blows to the lock areas, the door breaks and yields. Brandishing their guns, at least two military police officers, three civil police officers, and a police officer in a suit and sunglasses break into the apartment. The footage follows the police as they pass through a large TV room and climb a staircase to a second floor, also very large. The footage at this point is cut. Then, when it returns, it shows a shirtless man, who is the suspect, Jonathan Weslley Batista Barbosa, and a woman, both seated on a sofa, side by side, in an open outdoor area with a hot tub on an elevated deck. The man in a suit leads the suspect off the sofa and makes him lie on the floor, even stepping on his back, then ordering him to place his hands behind his back. ‘You are under arrest. We have a warrant for you,’ they say as they handcuff him. In a statement, the Civil Police reported that ‘on Friday (11/7), in the Savassi neighborhood in the capital, they executed a preventive arrest warrant issued by the Court of Belo Horizonte. After the procedures, the 37-year-old man was taken to the prison system, where he was at the disposal of justice.’ How did the suspect live as the ‘Ozempic Thief’? The arrest of the suspect for a series of thefts of expensive medications, such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, in Belo Horizonte, revealed a luxurious lifestyle maintained by crimes. He is accused of pulling the same scam in several pharmacies in the neighborhoods of Serra, Sion, Mangabeiras, Santa Lúcia, and Santa Efigênia, causing damage that, in some cases, ranged from R$ 1,300 to R$ 3,700 per item. The target medications were application pens used for weight loss and diabetes control, all of them with high costs. According to camera images and police information, the suspect entered the stores, asked to see the product, hid the pen in his clothes – sometimes in intimate areas, as seen by cameras on October 28 – and pretended to fetch the medical prescription in his car, a white Mercedes-Benz C200. However, he fled the scene without paying. The case gained notoriety after complaints from pharmacy owners. According to the Military Police, the man has an extensive criminal history, with over 170 police reports for crimes such as robbery, theft, fraud, threats, and assault. The ‘Ozempic Thief’ was on parole and had 11 previous confirmed arrests. The investigations also look into scams at gas stations, hotels, and the use of the luxury vehicle to hide assets, which could constitute money laundering. Ozempic Gang: police dismantle organization that robbed pharmacies Criminal Typification and Penalties Given the accusations and the way the crimes were committed, the suspect may incur mainly in the crimes of Qualified Theft and Money Laundering. Theft is typified in Article 155 of the Penal Code and can be qualified (Article 155, § 4) due to the fraud (by simulating fetching the prescription and hiding the product), which increases the base penalty of imprisonment to 2 to 8 years, in addition to a fine. Money Laundering (Law No. 9,613/98, Article 1), which is constituted by concealing or disguising the illicit origin of assets (such as the use of the luxury car to maintain the high standard of living from thefts), provides for a penalty of imprisonment from 3 to 10 years, and a fine. The suspect’s criminal history, with over 170 incidents, is an aggravating factor that, if the previous convictions are confirmed, may increase the penalty in case of recurrence, possibly changing the initial penalty enforcement regime. Follow our WhatsApp channel and receive relevant news for your day The case of the ‘Ozempic Thief’