Rodrigo Bacellar, the former president of Rio de Janeiro’s state legislative assembly, was transferred on Saturday, July 4, to the Federal Penitentiary in Brasília after a new order from Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF), according to Brazilian news reports.
The transfer was ordered by Justice Alexandre de Moraes as part of a new preventive arrest warrant in Operation Unha e Carne, a Federal Police investigation into alleged links between Rio politicians, illegal gambling networks and organized crime. Bacellar, a member of the Liberal Party (PL), had been held at Bangu 8, a prison in Rio’s Gericinó complex, before being taken to Federal Police headquarters and then sent to the capital.
What Police Allege
Federal investigators accuse Bacellar of passing confidential information about police operations to leaders of Comando Vermelho, one of Rio de Janeiro’s most powerful criminal organizations. The allegation remains under investigation, and the case is being handled under STF supervision.
The latest phase of Operation Unha e Carne began on Thursday, July 2. According to Revista Oeste and Correio Braziliense, Federal Police officers carried out 14 search-and-seizure warrants in Rio de Janeiro city and São João de Meriti, in the Baixada Fluminense region outside the state capital.
The court also authorized the freezing and seizure of assets and bank accounts from people under investigation up to R$22 million, roughly USD 4 million at recent rates, an approximate conversion. Such measures are commonly used in Brazilian criminal probes to preserve assets that prosecutors may later seek to recover.
Other Targets
The new phase included three preventive arrest warrants. They targeted Bacellar; Márcio Poncio, a pastor detained in Barra da Tijuca; and Adilson Coutinho, known as Adilsinho, an alleged illegal gambling figure who was already in custody.
Police also searched addresses linked to Marco Antônio Cabral, a former federal lawmaker and son of Sérgio Cabral, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro. Correio Braziliense reported that Cabral’s defense denied any involvement in the crimes under investigation and said he remained available to cooperate with authorities.
Investigators are examining alleged financial links between public officials and Rio’s contravention networks, including the jogo do bicho, an illegal lottery with deep historical ties to local political and criminal structures. According to the reports, earlier stages of the investigation found ledgers and notebooks attributed to Adilsinho that allegedly listed monthly payments to state lawmakers and undeclared campaign donations to public agents.
Defense Responses
Correio Braziliense reported that Bacellar’s defense denied that he acted to obstruct or hinder any investigation, or to protect criminal organizations and their members. His lawyers said he had no link to the facts under investigation and expressed confidence that the legal proceedings would prove his innocence.
The defense for Adilson Coutinho also denied improper payments to politicians or public agents, according to the same report. The investigation is ongoing, and none of the allegations cited in the court orders amounts to a conviction.
The transfer to Brasília places Bacellar under Brazil’s federal prison system, which is generally used in cases considered sensitive for security, organized crime or potential interference with investigations. For Rio politics, the case adds another chapter to a broader set of inquiries into the overlap between public office, illegal gambling and criminal groups in the state.