Operation Rotas do Rio, launched this Tuesday (21) by the Civil Police, ended with four arrested, three of them in the act, half a million reais worth of drugs seized and the discovery of how part of the Comando Vermelho structure works, the largest criminal faction in the state.
“The objective is not only to seize illicit materials and arrest those largely responsible for the traffic and illegal trade of drugs, but also to dismantle the financial structure that makes this illegal purchase and sale possible”, said the secretary of the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, Marcos Amim.
During six months of investigation, the police mapped the route of drugs (especially skank – which is a more potent type of marijuana – and cocaine) that are sold not only in communities, but also in upscale areas of Rio de Janeiro.
According to the police, Comando Vermelho worked together with the Comando Vermelho do Amazonas (CVAM) faction, which allied itself with the Rio de Janeiro criminal organization after a dispute in the north of the country.
Investigations show that CVAM criminals were responsible for obtaining the drug at the triple border, then using the Solimões River as a way to transport the drug to Manaus. Before arriving in Rio, the drug still passed through the Center-West of the country. A criminal scheme that involved not only a lot of money, but also influential people.
According to investigations, criminals laundered drug money through payments to people and companies. Among them is the former mayor of a municipality in the interior of Amazonas.
He is suspected of using a refrigerator in Amazonas to launder Comando Vermelho money. Shortly before the operation that had his house as one of the targets, the former mayor traveled to Brasília.
“We know that he left home at 3 am to catch a flight to the Federal District. He has a lot of political influence, he even held a commissioned position at city hall. He was mayor twice and both times he was impeached for abuse of economic power. There is a possibility of a leak in the operation”, highlighted the Secretary of the Civil Police.
In total, 99 search and seizure warrants were executed in Amazonas, Pará, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.
In the capital of Rio de Janeiro, the targets were addresses in Morro dos Prazeres and the community of Fallet-Fogueteiro, in Santa Tereza, in the central region of the city, and in upscale neighborhoods. According to the police, apartments in Ipanema and Copacabana functioned as drug hotlines.
Among those arrested in the action is Juan Roberto Figueira da Silva, known as Cocão, appointed as head of drug trafficking in Morro dos Prazeres. There were five outstanding preventive arrest warrants against him.
According to the police, the idea is to prevent the expansion of Comando Vermelho which, in just two years, generated around R$30 million in illicit activities.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
