On Thursday, Brazilian authorities conducted a raid on the residence and workplaces of the former intelligence chief of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro as part of an investigation into allegations of unlawful surveillance on behalf of the far-right leader and his close associates.

Law enforcement officials revealed that search and seizure warrants were executed for 12 individuals, including Alexandre Ramagem, the former head of the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin), who currently serves as a federal lawmaker for Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party.

These raids were authorized by Supreme Court Justice and Chief of the Electoral Court Alexandre de Moraes, who himself was purportedly a target of the alleged surveillance.

“Federal police have identified the existence of a criminal organization set up to illegally monitor individuals and public authorities… without judicial authorization,” the Supreme Court said in a statement, Yahoo News reported.

Authorities reported that they carried out search and seizure operations at 21 sites across the capital, Brasilia, as well as the southeastern state of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, which is the hometown of Alexandre Ramagem.

Bolsonaro is supporting Ramagem’s candidacy for mayor in the upcoming October elections.

As per court documents, investigators claim that the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) utilized Israeli surveillance software called FirstMile, capable of tracking cell phone geolocation data.

Allegedly, this software was employed to conduct surveillance on numerous politicians and other prominent figures throughout Bolsonaro’s presidential term from 2019 to 2022.

Written by B.C. Begley