Rio Police Rifle Found in Senate Hopeful’s Car Was Issued for His Security, PM Says

A restricted-use police rifle found in the armored car of Marcio Canella, a former mayor of Belford Roxo and Senate hopeful in Rio de Janeiro state, had been issued for his personal security detail, Rio’s Military Police told O Globo.

The weapon, described by the force as a Colt M4 5.56-caliber carbine, was seized during the sixth phase of Operation Unha e Carne, a Federal Police investigation into alleged money laundering through fuel station networks. According to the Federal Police, the operation targets the movement of 7.6 billion reais over six years. O Globo reported that Canella was the main target of that phase of the investigation.

This is single-source reporting based on O Globo’s account and official statements quoted by the newspaper.

The Military Police said the rifle was taken from the weapons reserve at its headquarters in downtown Rio and formally assigned to Sgt. Alexandre Paixao da Silva Junior, the officer responsible for Canella’s escort. The force said the arrangement had been authorized by the state police secretary at the time, Col. Marcelo Menezes, after a request from Canella, who was then mayor of Belford Roxo, a municipality in Rio’s Baixada Fluminense region.

The case has raised questions because Paixao was formally assigned to the internal affairs division of Detran-RJ, Rio de Janeiro’s state vehicle and licensing agency. Detran told O Globo that its internal affairs staff conduct external inspections at vehicle inspection sites and scrapyard-related operations, but said such work does not require a rifle. The agency also said it was unaware of the private security service the officer was allegedly performing.

Detran said Paixao had been seconded to the agency since October 2025. After retired Military Police Col. Carlos Eduardo Sarmento da Costa took over as Detran president in May 2026, Paixao began working under a supervised rota, according to the agency. An administrative process asking for his return to the Military Police had already been opened on June 25, more than ten days before the Federal Police operation. After the seizure became public, Detran requested his immediate removal on July 8, and his dismissal from the agency was published the following day in the state official gazette.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had given Rio’s Military Police five days to explain the origin of weapons seized in the operation. The request appeared in a July 10 decision granting provisional release to Canella and to another military police officer, Antonio Gomes da Silva Neto, who was arrested in the same operation while carrying a police-issued pistol while allegedly providing private security to two other targets.

Sources cited by O Globo said Canella told investigators he did not know the rifle was in the vehicle. According to that account, he had returned the previous day from a political agenda in Volta Redonda, accompanied by his security team, and Sgt. Paixao allegedly left a backpack and the rifle in the car at the end of his shift. The report said Canella pointed Federal Police agents to his two vehicles during the search, and the rifle was later found in the trunk.

The Military Police said its internal affairs office opened a military police inquiry on the day of the operation. Detran has also opened an internal review into how Paixao worked under the previous management.

O Globo also reported a possible inconsistency in the Federal Police file: an inspector named Pablo Juquia Felix Ferreira was listed as assigned to Detran, but the agency’s personnel office said he had never worked there. The newspaper said that discrepancy may reflect an error in the Federal Police report or another line of inquiry.

Former police secretary Marcelo Menezes told O Globo he did not recall Paixao’s case, but said other state authorities sometimes request rifles from the Military Police when they claim threats to life or personal security needs. Canella’s defense did not comment before O Globo’s deadline.