The Federal Police and the Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro launched operation Baptism on Monday (18/12). The action aims to investigate the participation and political articulation carried out by state deputy Lucinha (PSD), who would act together with an advisor to benefit a private militia operating in the West Zone of Rio. The court ordered the immediate removal of the parliamentarian of legislative functions, prohibition of maintaining contacts with certain public and political agents, as well as prohibition of attending the legislative house.
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According to the investigation, Lucinha is identified as the political arm of militiaman Luis Antônio da Silva Braga, known as Zinho, considered the head of the largest militia in Rio. Zinho’s gang operates in neighborhoods in the West Zone, such as Campo Grande and Santa Cruz.
The investigation into Lucinha and her advisor, Ariane Lima, is conducted by the Attorney General’s Office (PGJ). The procedure was forwarded to the PGJ after conversations between gang members who mentioned the policy were intercepted.
Federal agents were last week at the parliamentarian’s office at the Legislative Assembly (Alerj) and at addresses linked to it, where two pistols, R$ 148 thousand in cash and documents were seized.
Who is Lucinha
State deputy Lúcia Helena Pinto de Barros, Lucinha, 63 years old, is from the West Zone of Rio, she started in public life as an activist in the Organized Popular Movement, in the 1980s. Currently in the PSD, she has two children — one of them, Junior da Lucinha, is the municipal secretary of Healthy Aging and Quality of Life in the city of Rio.
Militia Member
According to sources from the PF and Public Ministry, Lucinha is herself a member of the militia, which last October organized a riot with the burning of 35 buses in Rio, after the nephew and right-hand man of the organization’s head died in a confrontation with the police.
The deputy was called “Godmother” and carried out several missions for the criminal organization. The investigation, which has not yet ended, is investigating whether Lucinha used her mandate to pressure Civil Police operations against a rival group of Zinho. Allegedly, Zinho’s militia paid Civil Police stations to carry out a mega-operation against his rival group in the West Zone of Rio.
In one of the most daring missions among those mapped out by the PF, Lucinha worked to remove Lieutenant Colonel Claudio Eduardo Lopes de Oliveira from command of the PM Battalion, in Santa Cruz, an area dominated by the militia.
At the same time, Lucinha also worked for the departure of Major Elton de Lima Marques from the 8th Judiciary Police station, which investigates the participation of police officers and former police officers in drug militias.
On another occasion, Lucinha helped free four militiamen caught in the act in an operation by the PM’s Special Rondas and Crowd Control Battalion.
Deployment
This Monday’s action is an offshoot of Operation Dynasty, launched by the PF in August 2022 with the aim of dismantling a criminal organization formed by militiamen operating in the West Zone.
On Tuesday (19/12), Operation Dynasty 2 was launched, a new attempt to arrest Luis Antonio da Silva Braga, known as Zinho. The operation ended with 5 people arrested, and Zinho remains at large. According to the PF, the focus in this 2nd phase is to dismantle the group’s financial core.
Prosecutors highlight that large construction companies were forced to pay paramilitaries every month for each project they built and even for works carried out by Rio City Hall. But when the work ends and the project is built, extortion does not stop. According to the Public Ministry, condominiums are obliged to pay “concierge fees”, with costs passed on to their residents.
Analysis:
Militias are paramilitary groups that compete with drug traffickers for space in the subjugation of communities and favelas. They are mainly made up of active and inactive police officers and other public security agents. It is estimated that the militias are present in at least 42 favelas. After more than a decade of expansion and strengthening, militia groups dominate and exploit regions that spread across dozens of neighborhoods in Rio and the cities surrounding the capital. Furthermore, they fight for new territories with a military arsenal. These groups also corrupt, kill and infiltrate state institutions. They have historically invested in developing connections with politicians and many have been elected to the city council. Recent investigations point to the active participation of the state deputy Lucinha and her advisor in the criminal organization, especially in political articulation with public bodies aiming to meet the interests of the militia group.
