Six police officers in Rio de Janeiro have been arrested on charges of stopping trucks carrying women's underwear, stealing their merchandise and extorting money from their drivers.
The officers are accused of using their police cars to hold their victims captive, threatening to kill them if they did not pay them off.
They extorted 9000 reals ($A4500) from 13 victims and face charges of theft, racketeering and abuse of power.
"They have already been removed from the force," a military police spokesman told AFP on Thursday.
One policeman had 117 panties and bras in his house, packaged and ready for sale, newspaper O Dia reported.
The drivers, who worked for undergarment factories outside Rio, would sometimes take a 100-kilometre detour to avoid the "panty gang," said the daily.
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