Arrested for being part of the militia, he exchanged messages with PM officers and called the colonel ‘my father’

Accused of being part of the Praça Seca militia, in the West Zone of Rio, Claudio Rodrigo Monteiro, known as Ceta, was in frequent contact with Rio Military Police officers before his arrest last Thursday, according to the Public Ministry. The MP’s Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco) obtained messages in which Ceta refers to a PM colonel as “my father” and congratulates the officer on his birthday. In dialogue with a captain, he gives details of how things are going in Morro do Fubá, which was controlled by the gang. The content of the complaint was passed on to the Military Police Internal Affairs. The officers were identified but not charged.

‘My father’

In one of the intercepted conversations, Claudio Rodrigo talked to Wagner Evaristo da Silva Junior, Junior Play, who was head of the militia until he was killed in September last year. In the messages, Ceta refers to the colonel as “my father” and asks the militiaman for help in giving the officer a gift, as his birthday was approaching.

“Brother, my father’s birthday. Can you help with a goal so I can give him a gift? He doesn’t need anything, it’s because we’re busy. I wanted to give him some morale. I’ll think about it ahead”, he wrote.

On his birthday, Claudio Rodrigo congratulates the officer on the anniversary. The colonel, who has commanded battalions in Rio and held positions at the top of the Military Police, is grateful for “the usual affection” and states that “God has always been generous” in introducing “good people like” Ceta in his life.

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“The close bond between the accused and Military Police Officers was evident. These “friendships” provided information about police raids, rapprochement between militiamen and PM Officers, including information about the PIX number linked to the accused Anderson (Santos), brother of Wagner Evaristo, without any legal or reasonable justification”, says an excerpt from the complaint.

In a dialogue with another police officer, he still refers to the colonel as the “ultimate idol” when celebrating the news of the reduction in crimes in the area commanded by the officer.

In a statement, the Military Police says that the Internal Affairs Department has not yet “received formal registration in this regard so far” and that it “reiterates its commitment to transparency and its fully collaborative stance with the demands of other public authorities, including the Judiciary “.

‘Any information just give me’

Another conversation identified by prosecutors is with a PM lieutenant. In it, the officer tells Claudio Rodrigo that “any information” he can pass on to the agent and “when we have the opportunity we will push (sic)”. The police officer also says that if Ceta gets information about whether the targets’ car has GPS, just inform him, and he would be able to investigate.

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The exchange of information continues with a PM captain. The agent asks Claudio Rodrigo if he can check out the Fubá favela that day. The community in the West Zone of Rio is controlled by the militia.

“(Claudio Rodrigo), as one of the direct assistants of the leaders of the criminal group, effectively contributed to the commission of several extortion crimes (…) he committed several crimes of active corruption, insofar as, on a routine and repeated basis , corrupted agents of the State Security Forces, offering them or promising them undue advantages. Corruption of police officers – civil and military, carried out in a persistent manner constitutes an illicit activity inherent to the existence and stability of the group, considering that the agents. corrupted people stop carrying out police operations to repress gang members, provide them with privileged information, and help weaken rival groups”, the prosecutors write.

The operation

Claudio Rodrigo is one of the sixteen people reported in Operation Shipwreck to Justice for criminal association, extortion against traders, entrepreneurs, street vendors and motorcycle taxi drivers, in addition to active corruption. Four people, members of the paramilitary group, have already been arrested. Among the targets of the operation is Anderson dos Santos, brother of the killed militiaman Wagner Evaristo.

Also among those accused is Luiz Ricardo Barreira da Cruz, the Russian, who pretended to be a civil police officer. According to M, he acted as an intermediary between the paramilitary group and civil police officers from various police stations with the aim of preventing investigations against the gang and arrests of its members and enabling bribe payments.

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Among those reported are a civil police officer and two military police officers. There are no arrest warrants against them. In the complaint, Gaeco points out the “close relationship” that exists between the members of the criminal group and the agents. The three police officers were suspended from public duties. The seizure of assets and the blocking of funds from the accounts of all those reported were also ordered, in addition to other precautionary measures.

Investigations into the gang began almost two years ago. The warrants were issued by the 1st Court Specialized in Criminal Organizations and are being served at addresses in Rio. According to Gaeco, the criminal group was involved with PMs to provide them with privileged information.

The relationship with civil police officers, according to Gaeco, served to ensure that the militiamen were not “disturbed” in carrying out their criminal activities with investigations and possible arrests in the act. To do this, criminals made periodic payments to agents, according to investigations. The police officers are also accused of supplying military materials — diverted from seizures — and even uniforms to criminals.