STF Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the Federal Police to investigate organized crime in Rio de Janeiro under the ADPF das Favelas. The decision follows Operation Contenção, which resulted in 121 deaths in the Penha and Alemão complexes. Moraes met with civil society groups, promising greater Supreme Court involvement and independent expertise with federal oversight.
On Wednesday, November 5, 2025, STF Justice Alexandre de Moraes, rapporteur for ADPF 635 (known as ADPF das Favelas), ordered the Federal Police to open an inquiry into organized crime in Rio de Janeiro. The measure aims to investigate indications of crimes with interstate and international repercussions, as well as the activities of violent criminal groups and their connections to public agents. The one-page dispatch refers to a sealed petition from August 29, but it gained momentum now, autonomously from the ADPF ruling.
The decision arises from Operation Contenção, conducted in October in the Penha and Alemão complexes in northern Rio, which left 121 dead—the deadliest in state history. Moraes took over the rapporteurship after Luís Roberto Barroso's retirement and, in one of his first actions, met on Monday, November 3, with Governor Cláudio Castro (PL-RJ) to discuss the operation's balance. The governor was summoned to provide clarifications on the action's criteria, the number of agents involved, and the circumstances of the deaths.
On Wednesday, Moraes met for over two hours, in two rounds, with representatives from human rights and civil society organizations. Participants reported that the justice promised greater STF involvement in the investigations and guaranteed expertise with federal oversight to ensure impartiality. The groups expressed concerns about evidence integrity and state agencies' actions, and the Federal Public Defender's Office had requested rigorous preservation of traces. Moraes ordered the full conservation of evidence, expertise, and custody chains.
ADPF 635, filed by the PSB in 2019 and supported by social movements, imposes rules on police operations, such as body cameras, notification to the Public Prosecutor's Office, and restrictions on community actions to reduce abuses and lethality. The first injunction was granted by Edson Fachin on June 5, 2020, suspending operations during the Covid-19 pandemic except in exceptional cases. Since 2020, Rio has recorded 5,039 operations; from January to October 15, 2025, there were 786. In the Penha and Alemão complexes, there were at least 45 reported actions. Castro stated that the operation respected the rules with 'proportional use of force,' but has criticized the ADPF as 'cursed' for hindering police access to communities. The Castro administration did not comment on Moraes' decision until the reports' publication.