Federal Police: Suspect believed to be a member of CV met with Castro's secretary to discuss political assistance.

247 - Identified by the Federal Police as treasurer of the Comando Vermelho (CV) criminal faction, Gabriel Dias de Oliveira had a meeting with the Secretary of Consumer Protection of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Gutemberg Fonseca, to discuss political support. This was revealed in the final report of Operation Zargun, dated September 27. The information was published this Friday (7) by Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.

The Federal Police said that the conversations revealed "the political maneuvering of the criminal organization to co-opt high-ranking officials in the State Executive Branch," as well as "the use of the public machinery to shield and promote the interests of the faction."

According to the Federal Police, "apparently" the secretary did not meet the expectations of Gabriel, known as Índio do Lixão (Landfill Indian), "even after receiving some kind of assistance." Investigators did not specify what this assistance was.

The secretary's office stated that Gutemberg is completely unaware of Índio's personal life and that, if there was any contact at public events, "it was entirely casual, without any knowledge of any illicit involvement."

Dialogues

The meeting between the two took place on May 13th, according to conversations extracted from Índio's cell phone, who forwarded an audio message to Alessandro Pitombeira Carracena, who was the state secretary of Sport and Leisure of Rio in 2022. He was also the undersecretary of Consumer Protection until January of this year - both positions during the Castro administration.

Índio reported that he had met with the secretary of "where you work." The police deduced that this was Gutemberg. The suspect stated that he had been brought by an intermediary so that the secretary could meet him, "in order to see how they could help each other politically."

The Comando Vermelho member told Carracena that Gutemberg could contact him the following day to ask who he was and whether he was "involved in the problem or not." The police interpreted the dialogue as a request for "political cover."

"I already spoke with them, I told them that you are firm and it's important for him to have you by his side," the former secretary reportedly replied, which, according to the Federal Police, indicated support for Índio's political project.

The Federal Police highlighted that, on June 5th, Índio sent Carracena a video of Gutemberg at an event for Enel, the distributor responsible for supplying energy in Rio, and stated: "He became powerful with Enel, didn't he?"

"Much of it is because of you," Carracena replied. Then, according to the report, Índio confided: "I'm not going to bother him anymore, doctor, I can't keep forcing him to help me if in his heart he doesn't want to help me."

Based on the messages, the former secretary responded that he was "fighting for it." Índio stated: "If he wanted to, he would have already done it." The alleged treasurer said: "Even more so after what I did."

Red Command and elections

Índio and Carracena were arrested during Operation Zargun, launched in early September. The former is identified by the Federal Police as the main person responsible for negotiating weapons and drugs for Comando Vermelho, "maintaining close connections with criminal leaders operating in Complexo do Alemão."

The corporation said that Índio participated in clandestine currency exchange operations and concealed and disguised the resources acquired in the scheme, which were passed on to drug traffickers. He also acted as an intermediary between the leaders of criminal factions and public authorities.

The Federal Police found that the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) intended to launch him as a candidate for city councilor in Duque de Caxias, in the Baixada Fluminense region. According to the police, he earned the nickname "do Lixão" (of the Dump) for leading the drug trade in the Lixão favela in the municipality. He was even arrested in 2015.

The corporation indicted Índio on suspicion of promoting, forming, financing, or being a member of a criminal organization and an association for international arms and drug trafficking. Índio's defense could not be reached.

According to the Federal Police, Carracena is the political and legal arm of the faction. He allegedly received money from its members to leak information about police operations to the group and to serve their interests through contacts acquired in public life. He was indicted on suspicion of promoting, forming, financing, or being part of a criminal organization, violating professional secrecy, and active corruption.

Other side

Attorney Rodrigo Roca, who is defending Carracena, said that his client "did nothing more than make himself available to a candidate to assist him in seeking political support."

"The dialogue between Dr. Carracena and the Indian, contrary to the perverse accusatory narrative, was part of a legitimate search for political support. At no point was there any mention of undue advantages or the practice of any act contrary to the law."