When it comes to full territorial control in Rio de Janeiro, Red Command (CV) is currently the faction that most firmly exercises this form of dominance—defined by the imposition of rules, economic exploitation, armed barriers, and systematic use of force. It is precisely CV that is now at the center of the Federal Police’s investigations in Operation Zagun, which on Tuesday (02/12) arrested the president of the Rio State Legislative Assembly (Alerj), Rodrigo Bacellar (União Brasil), accused of obstruction. According to investigators, he warned his then-colleague, deputy TH Jóias—suspected of mediating arms and drone purchases with the criminal faction—that he would be targeted in an operation.
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Four Million People
The territorial control exercised by armed groups in Rio currently affects four million people, equivalent to 34.9% of the population of the Metropolitan Region, which includes 22 municipalities such as the capital, Baixada Fluminense, and cities in the eastern part of the state. The information appears in the newest edition of the Historical Map of Armed Groups and shows that these residents live under the rule or influence of drug trafficking factions or militias. When areas of direct control and those of influence are combined, militias surpass CV in total territorial extension. The study was developed by the Group for the Study of New Illegalities at the Fluminense Federal University (GENI/UFF) and the Fogo Cruzado Institute.
More than 18%
According to the survey, 18.1% of all urbanized land in the region is under some form of armed control. CV directly controls 150 square kilometers, representing 47.5% of all stably dominated territories in the state. In terms of residents, the faction exerts direct authority over 1.6 million people, maintaining population-based dominance since 2007, when GENI began its historical monitoring. When areas of influence are included, territories where criminal groups test control, move weapons, impose partial restrictions, and exploit services, the militias assume the largest share, at 49.4%. Altogether, they dominate or influence 201 square kilometers, affecting the lives of more than 1.7 million people. Their growing footprint—driven by extortion, control of public and private services, and dispersed territorial occupation—has expanded by over 500% in 18 years. Militia operations include clandestine cable TV, irregular internet services, alternative transportation, gas sales, and land grabbing.
Different Strategies
The report shows that Red Command continues to expand despite a general decline in armed dominance in recent years. Between 2016 and 2020—identified by researchers as a period of “major expansion,” marked by the collapse of the Police Pacification Units (UPPs) and the state’s fiscal crisis—CV increased its territorial presence by advancing into areas of Baixada Fluminense and the eastern region of the state.
Militias, on the other hand, have lost ground since 2020 due to operations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco), launched as part of investigations into the murders of councilwoman Marielle Franco and driver Anderson Gomes. These investigations led to Operation “Untouchables” in 2019 and 2020, targeting militia groups in Rio das Pedras. Additional setbacks came from Civil Police actions, notably the killing of Wellington da Silva Braga, known as Ecko, in 2021, and the Federal Police’s arrest of his brother, Luiz Antônio da Silva Braga, known as Zinho, in 2023. The Braga brothers had led the largest militia network in the West Zone.
Third Force
Although it does not hold the same level of territorial dominance, the Third Pure Command (TCP) has consolidated itself as the third major criminal force in Rio and it plays an increasingly significant role in contested areas, particularly in the North Zone of the capital and in the Baixada Fluminense. In 2024, the TCP accounted for 11.28% of the population living under armed control or influence and controlled 7.8% of the total territory dominated in the region.
Confrontations
According to GENI coordinator Daniel Hirata, both drug factions and militias initially expanded through a strategy of colonization, in which groups advanced into areas previously free of armed control. Today, however, the predominant strategy is conquest—where one faction replaces another already established. This form of expansion typically leads to armed confrontations as groups compete for control of strategic territories.
Analysis:
Rio de Janeiro’s current security landscape reveals an increasingly complex balance of power among criminal groups, marked by the consolidation of Red Command (CV) and the evolving territorial strategies of militias. CV’s firm territorial control remains unmatched in terms of stable dominance. The fact that Operation Zargun now connects state political actors to CV’s operations underscores how deeply entrenched these structures have become, blurring the line between criminal governance and political influence.
CV maintains direct control over 1.6 million residents and continues to dominate population-based jurisdictions, but militias surpass all factions in combined areas of control and influence. Their 500% territorial expansion over the past 18 years reflects a business-driven model built on extortion and the provision of informal services. Although recent operations weakened major militia networks, these groups remain deeply embedded in everyday economic and infrastructural systems.
Current trends suggest that territorial disputes are shifting from expansion into ungoverned areas toward direct conquest, where one criminal group replaces another. This new pattern increases the likelihood of armed confrontations, especially in strategic regions of Baixada Fluminense and the eastern metropolitan belt.
