The Routes of Arms in Rio

Already accustomed to receiving death threats for heading up the Militia CPI—the Parliamentary Hearing Commission, which led to the arrest of hundreds of active and former public security agents and politicians involved with militia activities in Rio—Rio State Representative Marcelo Freixo is moving on to another hornet's nest: the illicit arms trade.

Dep. Freixo's proposal, the Rio de Janeiro Legislative Parliamentary Hearing Commission on Arms Trafficking aims to map the origin of the weapons used by militias and organized crime in the state.

Freixo will chair the CPI, and Deputy Wagner Montes will serve as rapporteur. Deputies Luiz Corrêa da Rocha, Flavio Teixeira and Zacchaeus Bolsonaro will also participate on the commission, which will summon public security officials who were investigated for involvement in trafficking of arms, ammunition and explosives.

What are the objectives of the Parliamentary Hearing Commission?

Rio is not the only state with high rates of murder, theft, or drug trafficking. Rio is a violent place just like Espírito Santo or Pernambuco. What distinguishes it from other states in terms of public safety is the presence of specific weapons that circulate mainly in the city. This needs to be investigated.

What will the committee investigate?

We've already conducted a successful federal CPI, which can serve as a base, but we need more information. We need to understand the challenges that are unique to Rio: porous borders through which illicit weapons are entering the state, which institutions work well—or not—together, where the members of the state are complicit with trafficking, and the relationship with police corruption. These are all points on which the state parliament can contribute to the investigation.

The CPI is a powerful tool, because it allows us to access bank accounts, documents, and places that are normally restricted.  The right to access this information is reserved for specific cases, and arms trafficking is one of the most important issues in Rio.

Which other members of Parliament will participate in the commission?

There are five of us. I will lead the investigation, Wagner Hills will be the rapporteur and Deputies Luiz Corrêa da Rocha, Flavio Teixeira and Zacchaeus Bolsonaro will occupy three other positions.

The trafficking of arms and ammunition goes beyond state borders. How do you define the limits of territorial investigations?

The CPI has to be a state investigation, if not, it's unconstitutional. But we're going to work with the federal government. The inquiries and those under investigation have to be directly related to the state government, but we can make proposals to the federal government.

Do you expect to have the support of military and civil police?

At least in sectors of the police, as we enjoyed during the militias investigation, which investigated other sectors of the police. The police are not unlike other professions, they are not all alike, just as we're not in parliament. There are some in the police who are interested reforming the institution, and we'll count on their support.

What other institutions will you work with?

We will need many partners. We will work with civil society organizations that already work on this topic—Antonio Rangel, from Viva Rio is one of the major researchers in the field; he has already provided information. We'll also work with the academic community, with the Federal Police and Highway Police, and with sections of the Civil Police, in particular with specialized fields, like the Criminology Institute, which can identify, for example, the origins of weapons seized in Complexo de Alemão.

According to the Federal Police, weapons diverted during the Complexo de Alemão occupation could fill a large room. Will the inquiry look into this particular episode?

There is no way to ignore that quantity of weapons. The CPI will certainly trace the origins of those weapons. Weapons are not produced illegally—they become illegal at some point. Finding that point is important because it has a direct relation to the supply of weapons in a hotly contested territory to a particular faction.

This is an episode that the CPI will investigate in depth. Operation Guillotine showed us that some of the weapons seized by police were supplied to the illicit arms market. But this is a problem at lower ranks; none of the individuals in question were chiefs.

What is going on in a police force in which an individual who created and ran for seven years the Bureau of Firearms and Explosives Enforcement—delegate Carlos Oliveira, who was arrested in Operation Guillotine—confiscates weapons and turns them over the illicit market?

This is nothing new. We also confronted the former police chief Alvaro Lins. The police needs reform—in internal affairs, salary and training, and it needs to depend less on the character of individuals. As things stand, the structure of the police is compromised.

Will everyone involved and arrested in Operation Guillotine be investigated by the inquiry?
Of course everyone will be investigated and this will form the basis for our work. Some should be interrogated, for others it won't be necessary.

How are seized weapons tracked?

Custody of seized weapons is a responsibility given to the Civil Police, but oversight is weak. We're going to examine this process during and after the CPI: where the weapons are directed, how closely they're being tracked, how they are registered, why the weapons are not destroyed immediately. They are not destroyed because the weapon has to be preserved until the end of the judicial process, which can sometimes take years.

There are a number of questionable practices that the CPI will examine and recommend alternatives. An inquiry must result in proposals, and certainly in relation to the seizure of weapons we will propose reform.
Will the hearing investigate both legal and illegal weapons?
There is no way to discuss arms trafficking without understanding the legal trade and the interests behind it.

Do you believe that the UPPs have had some positive impact in weakening arms and ammunition trafficking in the state?

The UPPs is a city planning project, rather than a public security project. It is a military project of taking back land with the goal of creating an 'Olympic City'—Zona Sul, the Port Zone, Maracanã, Jacarepagua. It doesn't affect trafficking.

In your view, will this inquiry have the same repercussions as the Militias hearing?

I hope so, but I have no guarantee. We have to try. The goal is to create a conclusive report. This CPI is more challenging because it has a clearer, more identifiable focus. This is more sophisticated, and should take more work.

Are you afraid of the risks to your safety that chairing this committee may present?

Things may get tense; the situation won't get any easier.

Photo: Cristiano Magalhães

Translated by Danielle Renwick