Brazil's Federal Police arrested Rodrigo Bacellar, president of the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly (Alerj), preventively on Wednesday (December 3), on suspicion of leaking confidential information from an operation against the Comando Vermelho. The arrest took place during a meeting at the PF headquarters in Rio, where agents seized R$ 90,000 in cash from the deputy's official vehicle. The case is connected to Operation Zargun, which led to the arrest of former deputy TH Joias in September.
Rodrigo Bacellar (União Brasil), president of the Alerj, was detained by Brazil's Federal Police (PF) on December 3, 2025, following an order from Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The arrest is part of Operation Unha e Carne, under the Arguição de Descumprimento de Preceito Fundamental das Favelas (ADPF 635), which probes violent criminal groups in Rio de Janeiro. Bacellar is suspected of leaking details from Operation Zargun, launched on September 3, targeting the Comando Vermelho (CV) leadership and ties to public officials.
According to the PF, Bacellar warned then-deputy TH Joias (no party) the day before the operation, advising him to destroy evidence and flee. After the alert, Joias deleted data from his phone, got a new one with Bacellar as the emergency contact, and sent photos of the PF team at his home during the search. Operation Zargun dismantled an international arms and drug trafficking scheme involving corruption and money laundering, with 18 arrest warrants, 22 search warrants, and seizure of R$ 40 million in assets. Targets included a PF delegate, military police officers, a former state undersecretary, and Joias, accused of facilitating fuzil purchases, drugs, and anti-drone equipment for the CV, as well as appointing investigated individuals to Alerj positions.
Bacellar's arrest happened at PF headquarters in Rio to avoid spectacle, where agents seized three cellphones for forensics and R$ 90,000 in cash from his official vehicle used for a meeting with Superintendent Fábio Galvão. Moraes also ordered Bacellar's removal from office. The PF describes the case as 'the perfect portrait of the plundering of public power spaces by criminal factions in Rio de Janeiro,' revealing a 'parallel state' run by politicians linked to crime.
Bacellar's defense denies the leak and states he clarified everything in his PF statement without obstructing investigations. Joias's defense claims political persecution and illegal coercion, invoking parliamentary immunity, but the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) rejected a habeas corpus and upheld the preventive detention.