Alerj Under New Investigation Over Links to the Third Pure Command Criminal Faction

The Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj) is once again under scrutiny, this time over alleged ties to the criminal faction Terceiro Comando Puro (TCP). An operation launched on Thursday by the Rio Public Prosecutor's Office (MPRJ) targets state deputy Val Ceasa and former councilman Ulisses Marins, who are suspected of using their political positions to benefit the TCP. This investigation follows a series of probes into the assembly's connections with organized crime, including the 2025 Operação Zargun, which led to the arrest of then-deputy TH Joias for acting as a political operator for the rival Comando Vermelho (CV).

According to investigations, the relationship between politicians and criminal factions has been unfolding for months. In December 2025, former Alerj president Rodrigo Bacellar was arrested in Operação Unha e Carne for allegedly leaking confidential information about the Zargun operation to TH Joias. Federal Police also arrested federal judge Macário Ramos Júdice Neto on December 16 on suspicion of passing sensitive data related to the same operation before search warrants were executed.

Val Ceasa, the current target of the MPRJ operation, had previously appeared in intercepted messages among top Comando Vermelho leaders. In January 2025, traficant Carlos Costa Neves, known as Gardenal, sent a photo of Ceasa at a meeting in Palácio Guanabara to Edgar Alves de Andrade, or Doca, leader of the CV in Complexo da Penha. Gardenal wrote, “I told you, Val is his contact,” to which Doca replied, “Yeah, man, we’ve got to get this guy on our side.” Federal Police have interpreted these messages as evidence of the faction’s effort to recruit political allies to expand its influence and gain institutional protection.

The MPRJ’s current investigation focuses on alleged favors for the TCP, a different faction from the CV involved in previous cases. The probe highlights how multiple criminal organizations have sought to infiltrate the state’s legislative body, a pattern that has raised concerns about the integrity of public institutions in Rio de Janeiro. The assembly had already been searched by federal police during the Zargun operation, which uncovered negotiations involving weapons, drugs, and anti-drone equipment destined for the Complexo do Alemão, a CV stronghold.

The operation was first reported by the GLOBO series “Os donos do crime,” which exclusively revealed the intercepted messages involving Ceasa. The MPRJ has executed search warrants as part of the ongoing investigation to gather further evidence of the alleged collusion between politicians and the TCP.