to get into trouble, to get screwed
Ela tentou passar uma nota falsa e acabou entrando pelo cano.
She tried to pass off a fake bill and ended up in trouble.
The expression entrar pelo cano ("to go in through the pipe") draws on the unpleasant image of being swept into a drainpipe or sewer — ending up somewhere dirty and inescapable. From there it means to come to grief, get into a real mess, or be left in serious trouble.
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