"Beaten and Tied Up in Brazil: How a Charcoal Worker’s Photo Reaches Toyota", 30 September 2025

...Before dawn, Davi* returned to the workers’ quarters at the charcoal factory where he worked in Mirador, in the interior of Maranhão state, in northeastern Brazil. On his day off, he had been drinking in a bar near the Cana Brava Indigenous Territory and returned in an agitated state. Disturbing other workers, including the foreman, he knocked over chairs and made a commotion.

What happened next was brutal.

“He [the charcoal plant manager] punched the young man in the face, slammed his head against a pillar and then began beating him with a broomstick,” recounted a worker who says he witnessed the assault.

The manager is said to have tied Davi’s hands behind his back and restrained him before the crew. He then allegedly photographed the scene and later shared the images to assert his authority. “He would say that it was his way or nothing,” the witness added.

These photographs and testimonies appear in the official report from Operation 216, an inspection by Ministry of Labor officials in July 2021. When the inspection concluded, 11 workers were freed from conditions amounting to modern-day slavery...

The individual responsible for the operation, according to the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE), was Sirlei Martins Amaral—known as “Ferinha”—who has repeatedly appeared on Brazil’s official “Dirty List” of employers held liable by federal labor inspectors for slave-like labor practices.

The violence, fearful atmosphere, and exhausting schedule in the charcoal furnaces—all described in federal labor reports—reveal more than isolated brutality. They are part of a supply chain reaching the global market and Toyota, the world’s largest carmaker...

Between Ferinha’s charcoal businesses and the Japanese multinational is Viena, a steelmaker with plants in Sete Lagoas (in the state of Minas Gerais) and Açailândia, in western Maranhão. Viena is the region’s largest charcoal buyer—including the factory where the episode of aggression allegedly occurred. Although authorities formally submitted the complaint to police and prosecutors, no investigation was launched...

Repórter Brasil examined official customs and port records, which show that Toyota’s U.S. operations are among Viena’s customers...

In a statement, Toyota’s office in Brazil said, “Our operations are independent from other Toyota units worldwide and, as such, we have no influence over Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) suppliers.” Toyota USA—contacted multiple times—requested more time to respond but ultimately did not reply to submitted questions.

Viena Siderúrgica said it “repudiates any form of worker exploitation and does not do business with suppliers who breach labor laws.” The company said its business with plants linked to Sirlei Martins Amaral was restricted to units “authorized by the proper authorities” and that, once aware of labor inspections, it removed those suppliers from its chain.

Through his lawyers, Sirlei Martins Amaral (“Ferinha”) maintains he “never condoned such practices” and that “there is no criminal conviction against Mr. Amaral.” The statement says the inspected charcoal factory—where the assault took place—was shut down. Additional points from Amaral’s legal team appear elsewhere in this article.

Full statements from Toyota, Viena and Ferinha’s legal counsel are available at this link...