BRAZIL · ORGANISED CRIME
Key Facts
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 75.0 points (October 2026 edition).
- What is happening Brazil’s Federal Police searched four addresses in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, 29 October, in a money-laundering probe.
- Why it matters Phone data from an earlier phase pointed police to new addresses and companies, the police say.
- The numbers Four search warrants from the Supreme Court, Brazil’s highest court; police state no sum for this phase.
- Who is who The press names pastor Márcio Poncio and Bernardo Loyola, a gambling boss’s nephew, as targets; police name nobody.
- What to watch Whether prosecutors file charges and whether Poncio or Loyola respond; no statement from either has been found.
- What it means for you Nothing changes for US travel to Rio or US-Brazil trade; police name no American or US company.
Brazil’s Federal Police searched four addresses in Rio on Thursday. The press names pastor Márcio Poncio among the targets.
Brazil’s Federal Police searched four addresses in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday morning, 29 October, in a money-laundering investigation. The Supreme Federal Court, Brazil’s highest court, issued the warrants, and the press names pastor Márcio Poncio among the targets.
The Federal Police is Brazil’s national investigative agency, roughly comparable to the FBI in the United States. The case tests how far investigators can follow cash, foreign companies and holding structures.
What Happened
Early on Thursday the Federal Police announced the ninth phase of Operation Unha e Carne, Portuguese for “fingernail and flesh”. The name is a Brazilian idiom for two people who are inseparable.
Police say agents served four search-and-seizure warrants in the south-west zone of Rio de Janeiro. The targets were commercial offices described as the group’s operational base and a home linked to one of its main operators.
The Supreme Federal Court, known as the STF, issued the warrants, and the police notice does not name a justice. The notice also names no person or company and gives no monetary value for this phase.
The press places all four searches in Barra da Tijuca, a coastal district of Rio, and names Poncio and Loyola as targets. Bernardo Coutinho Loyola is described as nephew of Adilson Oliveira Coutinho Filho, known as Adilsinho, a figure in Rio’s illegal numbers game.
Poncio is described as a tobacco businessman and religious leader. No statement from him or his lawyers about this phase has been found.
Where the Case Comes From
The Federal Police says this phase grew from data on a mobile phone seized from a suspect in the fifth phase. That data allegedly revealed new addresses, company structures and assets.
Poncio was arrested in that fifth phase on Thursday, 2 July 2026, in the same investigation. The press says a justice later changed his preventive detention to house arrest.
A July press account quoted a defense note saying his business activities are lawful. The note said the accusations would be clarified in the judicial process.
The investigation began in December 2025 and has run nine phases. Related Rio Times reports cover the sixth phase, the fuel-station laundering raid, and the trial of a former Rio assembly speaker.
What Investigators Allege
The police say the group allegedly used cash, money flows without a traceable explanation, and companies in Brazil and abroad. Some of those companies are allegedly in low-tax jurisdictions.
Investigators also point to possible use of religious entities and holding companies to separate legal owners from assets. The notice does not say which entities, if any, are involved.
The assets include high-end properties, executive aircraft and luxury vehicles, some registered to relatives or third parties. These are allegations, and no court has ruled on them.
In the sixth phase, on Tuesday, 7 July, police cited 7.6 billion reais (about US$ 1.4 billion) moved over six years. That is total movement flagged by a financial-intelligence unit, and police have not tied it to Poncio or this phase.
Why It Matters
The inquiry shows Brazil’s federal police and Supreme Court pursuing alleged laundering through companies, aircraft and holding structures. It also keeps the links between illegal gambling, politics and money in Rio in the news.
Brazil is Latin America’s largest economy, and many US companies and investors operate in Rio. Cases like this bear on compliance risk, not on market prices, and no listed company is named in the police notice.
What It Means for You
For US readers, the searches change nothing about travel to Rio de Janeiro or about US-Brazil trade. No American citizen or US company is named in the police notice.
Firms with Brazilian partners should check who ultimately owns a counterparty. More is on the Brazil hub.
What Is Not Known
The police have not named the people searched, so the names rest on press accounts that the police have not confirmed. It is not known which address belongs to whom.
No charge or statement about this phase has been found, and everyone named is presumed innocent. It is also unknown whether this phase connects to the sum cited in July.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Operation Unha e Carne?
It is a Federal Police investigation in Rio de Janeiro into money laundering and other crimes, opened in December 2025. The ninth phase came on Thursday, 29 October.
Who is Márcio Poncio?
Poncio is a pastor described in the press as a tobacco businessman. He was arrested in the fifth phase on Thursday, 2 July, and is presumed innocent.
Who ordered the searches?
The Supreme Federal Court issued the four warrants, and the Federal Police carried them out. The police notice does not name the justice.
Is the 7.6 billion reais (about US$ 1.4 billion) sum linked to this case?
Police cited 7.6 billion reais (about US$ 1.4 billion) in the sixth phase, in July. They have not linked that sum to Poncio or to the ninth phase.
Sources: Brazilian Federal Police, notice of the 9th phase of Operation Unha e Carne, 29 October 2026; Brazilian Federal Police, notice of the 6th phase, 7 July 2026; exchange rate of 5.35 reais per US dollar, 29 October 2026 (accessed 29 October 2026).
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
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