Justice denies freedom to defendants involved in the Jogo do Bicho dispute in MS

The Court of Mato Grosso do Sul denied the request for freedom of those involved in the criminal organization that disputes the game in the southern state of Mato Grosso and which resulted in Operation Succession, by Gaeco (Special Action Group for the Repression of Organized Crime).

According to the decision, the reason is to maintain public order due to the danger generated by the state of freedom of those being investigated. The defenses had requested replacement of preventive detention with precautionary measures or house arrest, but they were also denied.

In total there are 15 defendants, namely: Diego de Sousa Nunes, Mateus Aquino Junior, Valnir Queiroz Martinelli, Manoel Jose Ribeiro, Taygor Ivan Moretto Pelissari, Gilberto Luis dos Santos, Roberto Razuk Filho, Carlito Gonçalves Miranda, Diogo Francisco, Edilson Rodrigues Ferreira , José Eduardo Abdulahad, Julio Cezar Ferreira dos Santos, Luiz Paulo Bernardes Braga, Tiano Waldenor de Moraes and Wilson Souza Goulart.

According to Gaeco, the criminal organization was led by state deputy Neno Razuk from PL. Complaint filed in December 2023 against the state deputy, and 14 others involved with the animal game in Mato Grosso do Sul remains under the care of judge May Melke Amaral Penteado Siravegna, of the 4th Criminal Court of the TJMS (Court of Justice of Mato Grosso do Sul). South).

The operation was launched after the criminal organization was caught in a house in the Monte Castelo neighborhood, in Campo Grande.

The complaint states that Neno Razuk bought a house, where members of the criminal organization met every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. One day before the Jogo do Bicho machines were seized in Monte Castelo, it was decided in one of these meetings that they would ‘go after’ the competitors.

Also according to the complaint, a white Volkswagen Polo vehicle had been rented to commit the bag thefts. Three bags were stolen from ‘collections’ from the rival group, totaling R$15,000.

With the robberies, the group led by Neno aimed to bring the ‘collectors’ and pointers from São Paulo to the organization, and therefore, the robberies always came with threats to members of the rival group.

The vehicles used in the bag robberies were a Volkswagen Polo, a Fiat Pálio and a Hyundai HB20. Also according to the complaint, the group that would be led by Neno was offering in addition to R$4,000 for the ‘collectors’ plus a 5% commission.

The complaint states that “it is representative of an extraordinary meeting of the criminal organization with all those responsible for the crimes, for a specific discussion on the facts that motivated the practices (dispute over the monopoly of Jogo do Bicho), results, contingency plans, among others”.

“This behavior denotes the criminal group’s expertise in illicit activity, as it allows discussions about the commission of crimes to occur in person, without leaving traces on cell phones or allowing conversations to be captured by the State through telephone interception, etc., which results from the participation of people accustomed to criminal investigations (police)”, says the Gaeco complaint.

The day before the act carried out by Garras, at the house in Monte Virgínia, the group had met and decided that they would ‘go after’ the competitors. The major would have participated in one of the thefts of the rival group’s bags.

Major Gilberto Luiz was arrested in the first phase of Operation Succession, when 10 arrest warrants and 13 search and seizure warrants were issued. The arrest warrants were served in Campo Grande and Ponta Porã.

Deputy Neno Razuk (PL) was the target of the operation that served a search and seizure warrant against him. Cell phones, a pistol and a tablet belonging to Neno Razuk’s son were seized at the deputy’s house.