Operation Caligula, carried out this Tuesday (10), can help the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro to discover the mastermind behind the death of councilor Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes. Prosecutor Diogo Erthal confirmed at a press conference that one of the hypotheses with which the MPRJ works is that the offender Rogério de Andrade is the mastermind of the murder.
THE CNN Erthal called the man, who is a fugitive from justice, an “obvious suspect” of the crime, due to the connection he already had with Ronie Lessa, accused of the murder of Marielle.
For prosecutors, Lessa acted as a kind of security for Andrade and was called by him to lead the expansion of the criminal organization’s business in the west of Rio a month after the councilwoman’s murder, in April 2018.
“The organization had Lessa as an element of great trust at a time very close to the death of Marielle Franco”, said the prosecutor. “What stands out is the proximity between the facts and a very strong bond of trust established between them at the time of the murder,” he added.
Marielle Franco was killed on March 14, 2018. Messages intercepted by the Special Action Group for the Repression of Organized Crime (Gaeco) show that the following month, in April, Rogério de Andrade sought out Ronie Lessa. The proposal was to open a clandestine bingo in Barra da Tijuca, west of Rio.
In July, three months after the negotiation, the establishment was inaugurated in Quebra-mar, in Barra. On the same day, the Military Police carried out an operation and prevented the operation of bingo, with the seizure of 80 slot machines.
According to Gaeco, Lessa then starts to articulate a release for the place to work again and the recovery of the seized machines. At this point in the investigation, the name of licensed delegate Adriana Belém, then head of the 16th precinct, in Barra da Tijuca, appears, arrested this Tuesday afternoon after the Court of Justice ordered preventive detention.
According to the MP’s complaint, the payment of a bribe would have convinced the delegate to allow, in August 2018, trucks to park at the door of the police station to remove the machines.
At her house, suitcases with money were found. After almost nine hours counting the bills, prosecutors finalized the sum of R$1,765,300 seized.
In the house of another licensed delegate, Marcos Cipriano, appointed as part of the criminal organization, prosecutors found the court decision that based this Tuesday’s operation. As the document was confidential, the leak of information will be investigated.
The report of CNN tries to contact the defense of Adriana Belém and Marcos Cipriano, but has not yet had a response.
For the MP, opening the casino was Lessa’s first act after Marielle’s death. Prosecutors said he was “cool” and “confident” after the murder of which he is a defendant. The conclusion comes from the evaluation of the messages exchanged between Lessa and Andrade obtained by the MP.
In addition to arresting twelve people, Gaeco also seized 17 cell phones, 5 notebooks and 107 slot machines, dismantling two illegal gambling houses: one in Barra da Tijuca and the other in Recreio. For prosecutors, the locations helped fund other criminal activities.
Operation Caligula numbers
- 29 arrest warrants
- 119 search and seizure warrants
- 12 arrests
- BRL 1.76 billion seized at Adriana Belém’s house
- 17 cell phones seized
- 5 notebooks seized
- 107 slot machines seized
In an interview with CNN lawyer Ary Bergher, who defends Rogério Andrade, said that mentioning Marielle’s name to get to his client is ‘shameful’.
“It is very sad to use as a smokescreen the murder of a councilor, a black girl, who has a life story, to try to justify this media operation about animal games, about Rogério. To date, investigators have not been able to obtain serious evidence to present who the principals are. This is shameful,” she said.
In a statement, the Civil Police stated that both delegates targeted by the operation do not currently have positions. “Adriana Belém is away on leave and Cipriano is working at another institution”.
According to Civil, “the Internal Affairs will request access to the investigations to proceed with the necessary administrative processes”.
Lessa’s defense stated that he learned about the event from the press.
“We are yet to find out what is happening. Know if there is any accusation, which accusation and what elements support it. For now, we have no way of positioning ourselves. We are in the dark,” she stated.
Source: CNN Brasil
