The Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ) began Operation Shipwreck on Thursday (25/04), against the militia that operates in the community of Bateau Mouche, in Praça Seca, West Zone, which belongs to Bonde do Zinho. Among those investigated are a Civil Police registry officer and two military police officers. The MPRJ claims that these security agents provided military material diverted from seizures and even uniforms to criminals.
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Fake Officer
Another suspect is a man who pretended to be a civil police officer and, according to investigations, remained inside police stations, using a weapon, uniform, and badge, and participated in operations in an official vehicle. The MPRJ claims that this false agent has contacts with several police units and the corporation’s Internal Affairs Department.
Improper Values
According to Gaeco, the militiamen paid bribes so that PMs would provide privileged information and so that civil police officers would not bother them with investigations and operations.
Battalion Responsible for Praça Seca
Responsible for policing in areas that are a territorial dispute between drug traffickers from the Red Command and militiamen, the 18th Military Police Battalion (Jacarepaguá) suffers from problems, including the lack of rifles and security to store weapons and ammunition.
Lack of 15,500 AmmunitionA survey found that the 18th battalion had 15,500 fewer projectiles than indicated in the Ordnance System (SistMatBel), an online control system used by the corporation. There are almost 8,000 bullets from a .40 caliber pistol and 3,000 from a 7.62 caliber rifle that appear in the digital tool, but which are not in the unit’s magazine.
Analysis:
Operation Shipwreck exposes an intricate web of corruption and criminal collaboration between public security agents and militiamen in the community of Bateau Mouche, in Praça Seca. This incident illustrates the complexity of relationships between criminal groups, such as the militia and the Red Command, and police institutions. The presence of the militia in Praça Seca, an area historically disputed between militiamen and drug traffickers from Comando Vermelho, reflects the fragmentation of territorial power in the city.
The participation of members of the Civil and Military Police in this scheme compromises the integrity of the institutions responsible for combating crime. The possibility of diversion of war materials to criminal groups, as evidenced by the lack of more than 15,000 ammunition registered in the 18th BPM control system, not only increases the lethal capacity of the militia but also increases territorial conflicts.