Um estudo acerca da prisão preventiva nos crimes de tráfico de drogas: a identificação de casos em habeas corpus no âmbito do Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ)

Abstract

The prohibitionist model adopted in Brazil has increased the number of people imprisoned for crimes related to drug legislation. For example, in the year 2021, about 27.2% (WPB, 2021) of the total prison population was made up of pre-trial prisoners. This fact is at odds with the constitutional principles and legal provisions relating to pre-trial detention, which stand out for their exceptional nature. In view of this, the work raises the following problem: has preventive detention been applied in an adequate and reasonable way in drug trafficking crimes? To respond to the problem, we seek to identify the formation of the repressive model of drugs in Brazil; it describes how the insertion, evolution and application of preventive detention took place; as well as investigating the application of preventive detention in concrete cases of drug trafficking brought to judgment in the seat of Habeas Corpus by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ). The study identifies the excessive use of preventive detention in drug trafficking crimes in Brazil, causing the subversion of its exceptional nature, in addition to the insufficient justification of preventive decrees, through mere references to the abstract gravity of the crime and the risk generated to public order. Methodologically, a legal and documentary analysis is chosen, in addition to a quali-quantitative study in the identification of prisons in Brazil.