Conversations intercepted by federal police as part of Operation Zargun, launched last September, revealed contacts between Commando Vermelho (CV), the target of the deadliest operation in Rio’s history last month, and former state aides, secretaries and former undersecretaries in Claudio Castro’s government. Conversations and testimonies obtained by GLOBO as part of the investigation show the faction’s attempts to overtly police, pay bribes, hold stolen cars to ransom, and even influence a face-to-face meeting between CV members and Consumer Protection Secretary Gutenberg de Paula Fonseca to discuss “political reporting.” “This criminal plan highlights deep penetration into the political system and administration, seeking to capture strategic sectors of the state in order to guarantee impunity and strengthen the faction’s territorial control,” said the PF report attached to the investigation. Gutenberg Fonseca denies that the meeting took place.
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According to the investigation, this meeting took place in May last year and was mentioned in a WhatsApp conversation between Gabriel Díaz de Oliveira of Indio do Lixan, who was appointed by the Federal Police as a member of the CV and head of drug trafficking in the Favela do Lixan of Duque de Caxias, and Alessandro Pitombeira Carracena, Secretary of Sports and Leisure in 2022 and Undersecretary of Consumer Protection. Until January of last year. In the conversation, Indio said he met with Fonseca to request “political reporting.” This dialogue was revealed by Mr. Folha de São Paulo.
Gutenberg Fonseca had known Carasena for over 20 years and was responsible for appointing him to government positions. In a statement to PF after his arrest, Mr. Carasena admitted that he had learned about the conversation between Mr. Indio and Mr. Fonseca from the Secretary of Consumer Protection himself. “I learned about this conversation from Gutenberg himself. Gutenberg said that the person who brought Gabriel to him was Luis Eduardo (Luis Eduardo Cunha Gonçalves, alias Dudu, former advisor to TH Joyas’ deputy, both arrested in the operation). The advisor, Mr. Marquez, told me that, if I’m not mistaken, they had this conversation and there were negotiations, but I personally never made any political decisions,” or negotiations with Mr. Gutenberg or Mr. Gabriel himself,” Carasena said.
“I can’t force myself to do it.”
Caracena also said in his testimony that Endio and Gutenberg strengthened their relationship throughout 2025 after leaving the government. “When I quit, quit, stopped working with Gutenberg, if I remember correctly, it was December of last year or January of this year. And throughout that year they approached me and I didn’t hear from them, I didn’t participate,” he said.
The month after the first contact, Mr. Indio sent Mr. Carasena a video of Gutenberg at a public service interest event. “He’s gotten stronger,” Indio says of Gutenberg’s relationship with the company. “A lot of that is because of you,” the former secretary replied. At the end of the conversation, Mr. Indio told Mr. Fonseca that he would no longer ask for help. “I’m not going to bother him anymore, sir, if he doesn’t want to help me in his heart, I can’t keep forcing him to help me.”
Asked by PF why he said that Fonseca’s strength at the dealership was the result of Indio’s actions, Caracena replied, “Look, it must have been some kind of favor that Gabriel was supposed to do for Gutenberg. As a result, Gutenberg became stronger, but I don’t remember exactly what that episode was.”
The investigation also revealed that this faction is running for a political project for the Indio de Lixan, namely for the city council seat of Duque de Caxias, his political stronghold. The plan was mentioned in a conversation between Indios and former TH Joyas deputy advisor Luis Eduardo Gonçalves, known as Dudu. Carasena and Indio were arrested by the PF on suspicion of being members of the CV’s “political wing.” Gutenberg was not the target of the operation. At the time of the conversation, Indio had no arrest warrants in his name.
Other conversations intercepted by the PF revealed that the group was trying to change policing in certain areas of the city. On January 29, 2024, Indio asked then Deputy Minister TH Joyas for help. “My brother asked you to come here. He wants to talk to you. Tomorrow it’s definitely 8pm. I’m here with him in the video,” he wrote. “What does your brother need?” asked the deputy. According to PF, the “associate” is Luciano Martiniano da Silva, known as Pezan, head of drug trafficking in Complexo do Alemão. “He wants you to fix it. Take the chalk out of Gardenia and try to get things back to normal,” Indio wrote.
7 minute call
The company, from the Gardenia Azul assault battalion in the western Rio region, was activated by the prime minister six months ago in response to the CV’s seizure of favelas after a year of clashes with paramilitary groups. “We have a lot of contacts in Gardenia. Let’s take a look at them,” the lieutenant promised. A few hours later, TH Joyas sent Indio a printout of his cellphone screen during a 7 minute, 5 second call to a caller who identified himself as “Government Secretary Carasena.” Indian questioned the content of the conversation. “Talk to the Commander-in-Chief to see what can be done,” TH replied. Six months later, the base at Gardenia Azul was transferred to the command of a local battalion, the 18th BPM (Jacarepagua).
In another conversation intercepted by PF, TH Joyas mentioned to Indio a “please” that Carasena had requested. It was the recovery of two stolen cars believed to be in a shantytown controlled by a faction. “Carracena has asked for this favor. These are two cars. One is in NH (Nova Hollanda) and the other is in Manguinhos.” Mr. Indio replied, “Please find out exactly where each of them is and I will send them back right now.”
At least once, Mr. Indio mentioned payments to his former secretary. In November 2023, after sending TH Joyas a photo containing cash, the alleged CV member said he would give Caracena an additional R90,000 to hand over to him. In May 2024, Indio and TH praised the former secretary in a separate conversation. During their first conversation, Carasena said he would have always been “firm” with them. A second person replied that the former secretary “never stopped helping us.”
In a statement to PF, Mr. Carracena admitted that he had received money from Mr. Indio while working for the government, but claimed that it was in connection with legal services he provided. “During our contact period, he consulted me several times. Of those, only one case actually resulted in a lawsuit and I received a portion of the fee. In other cases, he always just said, ‘I’ll send you the money,’ and the money never arrived,” he said.
When contacted, Gutenberg Fonseca said in a memo that he was “not aware of any meetings of any kind with the person mentioned and does not maintain, and has never had, any personal, political or organizational relationship with him.” “If there was contact at a public event, it was very casual and there was no awareness of any possible illegal involvement,” Fonseca said.
In a petition included in the judicial proceedings, Caracena’s defense attorneys argued that the investigation was “based solely on inferences and conclusions drawn from the statements of other persons investigated, and that it has not been proven that the applicant provided information on police activities and received money in return.”
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