Rio de Janeiro has a line of bodies laid out on a tarp after a major operation.

1:11 The Comando Vermelho (CV) has been carrying out an"expansionist project" in Rio de Janeiro in recent years, concentrating its offensives in the Jacarepaguá region, in the western part of the city, according to a complaint filed with the courts by the State Public Prosecutor's Office. The disputes to advance in this bloody war, says the Prosecutor's Office, have"resulted in dozens of deaths over the past few years, in addition to increasing the feeling of violence in the region."

The investigation also shows that the Penha Complex - one of the locations where the police concentrated the mega-operation this Tuesday, the 29th, which ended with 121 dead - is one of the faction's main bases.

Among those indicted by the Public Prosecutor's Office is Carlos da Costa Neves, aka"Gardenal," accused of acting as the general manager of drug trafficking in the Penha Complex."He is also responsible for leading the violent and criminal expansion of Comando Vermelho in the greater Jacarepaguá region," the prosecutors wrote in the document obtained by Estadão. Neves' defense could not be reached for comment.

Another defendant, Juan Breno Malta Ramos, also known as “BMW”, allegedly acted as the drug trafficking manager in Gardênia Azul and head of the “Sombra” group. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, this “Sombra” group consists of a team of hitmen working for Comando Vermelho, who operate in the criminal faction's offensive in the greater Jacarepaguá region. The report was unable to locate Ramos's defense attorney.

Exchanges of messages and images intercepted by investigators reveal a routine of abuses and excesses in an environment with restricted state access. There, a parallel justice system prevails, with executions and torture of rivals, judged and sentenced by the criminals themselves, and even torture of residents.

"It is a rigidly established and enforced chain of command, with the issuance of orders, as well as severe punishments for those who fail to comply with the guidelines," the document emphasizes.

The conclusions and materials are part of one of the indictments filed by the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor's Office, which are included in the body of evidence used by investigators in recent months to obtain arrest warrants from the courts against those involved in crimes such as drug trafficking, homicides, the disappearance of dozens of people, and robberies of all kinds. Cases originating from other states, targeting criminals who had taken refuge in the affected areas, were also included in the investigation. The defense attorneys for those mentioned could not be reached.

On Tuesday, Rio de Janeiro's police forces gathered all these court orders and, after 75 days of planning, raided the favelas to execute 180 arrest and search warrants.

Governor Cláudio Castro (PL) said the operation was a "success," but the State Public Defender's Office speaks of evidence of illegalities. The Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor's Office will investigate the case.

The excerpt from the investigation obtained by Estadão has 74 pages and began at the Narcotics Repression Police Station (DRE), and identified Edgard Alves de Andrade, aka Doca or Urso, as well as Pedro Paulo Guedes, aka Pedro Bala, as members of the group's top echelon in the area and in other favelas in Rio de Janeiro.

Below them, according to the authorities, are Washington Cesar Braga da Silva, nicknamed Grandão or Síndico da Penha, and Carlos Costa Neves, nicknamed Gardenal, who is also believed to be one of the commanders of the faction's expansion into militia-controlled areas in the western zone, in a war that has been ongoing for about three years and has already left dozens dead.

Clouds of data from cell phones containing more than 5 GB of data, as well as previously seized devices, had their content extracted, with judicial authorization, and served as the basis for the investigation.

Screenshots of conversations shown in the indictment indicate the leadership of Doca and Pedro Bala. In one message, the message is clear:"no one fires a shot without an order from Doca or Bala." For the prosecutors, both give direct orders"regarding the dynamics of drug trafficking in the Penha Complex and adjacent communities, including the sale and storage of drugs, high-caliber firearms, and the accounting of the criminal faction."

Photos obtained by investigators show that men armed with rifles, and even dogs, provide security for these leaders in houses high up in the favelas.

In one of the conversations, Neves, or Gardenal, whose name is recorded in the conversation as"God," expresses irritation with the work in the drug dens, complaining about the loss of shipments in 2023, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

"We're going to have the manager killed now," he says, demonstrating the violent way in which drug trafficking is controlled in the community, as well as his power to make decisions over the lives of his accomplices.

In this case, the Public Prosecutor's Office also indicted Juan Breno Malta Ramos, nicknamed BMW, considered the manager of drug trafficking for the CV (Comando Vermelho) in Gardênia Azul, a locality invaded by the faction and taken from the control of the militia.

According to prosecutors, he is part of the so-called"Shadow" group, which brings together hitmen working for the group,"operating in the territorial expansion of the criminal faction in the greater Jacarepaguá region," in the western zone.

The prosecution alleges that Ramos, or BMW, due to his role in expanding the drug trafficking gang's territory, controls large sums of money. With these resources, he allegedly purchases high-caliber weapons and invests in security, possessing"several surveillance cameras in the Penha Complex and the Gardênia community, some with motion sensors."

Rio police also accuse him of "punishing and torturing residents," organizing so-called drug trafficking courts "with the autonomy to order the execution of less prominent rivals."

In photos displayed in the document, a woman, described as"a troublemaker who likes to cause trouble at the dance," is inside a compartment filled with ice, with an expression of suffering. Next to her, another image shows a man on the ground being beaten with sticks.

Investigators claim to have obtained a video in which a man is "dragged by a car, gagged and handcuffed for several minutes, supposedly to confess to participating in an informantship with a rival group."

According to prosecutors,"amid cries begging for forgiveness," the young man targeted by the attacks mentions the name Ramos or BMW several times, while the drug dealer"makes jokes about the suffering of others, mocking the agonizing victim." An image attached to the complaint shows that the torture was being broadcast on video. The face of Neves or Gardenal, aka Deus, appears as the viewer of the crime.

Investigators point out that criminals, as a strategy, often group together"in the vicinity of educational establishments," even creating armed surveillance points around schools.

Investigations by the Civil Police have already shown, in CV-controlled areas within the Complexo da Maré, that this choice is made so that, on days of operations, the social outcry for the lives of students, who often post immediate videos on social media in a fit of panic, serves to interrupt incursions.

Neves, also known as Gardenal, is also listed as a participant in another messaging group, where he receives dozens of photos of expensive cars stolen in Rio de Janeiro from various car thieves, always offered for sale below market price.

Prosecutors, citing the Civil Police investigation, which Estadão has not yet had access to, state that the drug trafficker laundered money from the crime using shell companies.