The rise of “narco-pentecostalism” in Rio de Janeiro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In both the Koran and the Hebrew Bible, Aaron is referred to as Moses’ older brother and a prophet of Yahweh, the God of Israel. Born in 1396 B.C., his name in the Jewish language means “father of martyrs.”

In Rio de Janeiro, in 2021, Arão is the nickname of Álvaro Malaquias Santa Rosa, 33, a drug dealer who commands the Complexo de Israel, a group of favelas that are home to more than 130,000 people in the northern zone of the state capital.

One of the main leaders of the criminal faction known as “Terceiro Comando Puro” (Pure Third Command) or TCP, Arão has under his command hundreds of “martyrs” armed with assault rifles ready to kill or die defending the drug sales points in the communities of Parada de Lucas, Cidade Alta, Vigário Geral, Pica-Pau, and Cinco Bocas. This is not the only function of this modern Arão of organized crime. According to investigations by the Civil Police, there are indications that he has been ordained as a pastor of an evangelical church.

The drug dealer, who also goes by the alias Peixão – an allusion to the ancient symbol of Christianity – ordered the erection of Israeli flags in several points of the territories he controls. The Star of David, a major symbol of Judaism, is also painted on the walls of the streets and alleys of the Complex – one of them can be seen from Brasil Avenue, one of Rio’s busiest throughfares. The drug dealer takes his religious studies seriously. During a raid, police found an underground hiding place attributed to him: inside the small bunker were bulletproof vests, ammunition, and a copy of the Torah, the Jewish holy book, according to a report in the newspaper O Globo.

The use of the State of Israel symbolism by an evangelical drug dealer is justified because, for some of the neo-Pentecostal churches, Israel’s creation was a sign of the return of Jesus Christ and the confirmation of biblical promises from the Old Testament. Therefore, it is something to be celebrated. Bishop Edir Macedo, from the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, sometimes conducts services wearing a kippah, the traditional Jewish head covering, and uses traditional Israeli garments and adornments.

The religious references do not stop there. Peixão’s group also calls itself the Army of the Living God, Aaron’s Army, or the Kabbalah Gang (after an ancient Jewish mystical tradition). The trafficker chose as his personal symbol the “Peixonauta” (Fishtronaut in English), a cartoon character represented by a fish wearing an astronaut’s helmet. Graffiti with this unusual hero also stamps the walls of the favela complex.

However, the religious fervor and the childish symbolism do not translate into peaceful management of the territories of the group of favelas. Peixão, who has been on the run for almost a decade, is the subject of at least 20 criminal lawsuits, with charges ranging from drug trafficking to murder. Some of the murders committed by his army have been cruel, with dismembered and charred bodies.

In the audio that circulates in WhatsApp groups of residents of the complex dominated by Peixão, he talks about the situation in the favelas he controls: “If you talk to people who are part of the CV [Comando Vermelho, TCP’s rivals], they will only say bad things about us. But if you talk to someone that likes you, they’ll tell you what good we’re doing here. A good union, happy people. There’s still a lot to do, but it’s a lot different than before,” says the trafficker. “What I can tell you is that we are pure here. We don’t close the door to anyone. If your heart is pure and transparent and you want to be here, I can even set you up,” says the boss to an unknown interlocutor. “But you will be one among hundreds [who are] armed,” he says about the Army of the Living God under his command.

The story of the Israel Complex, which was consolidated in 2020 amid the new coronavirus’s pandemic, began before Peixão. One of the first signs that there was a new movement in organized crime (dubbed narcopentecostalism) underway in Rio was in 2013, with the ‘Bonde de Jesus’ (Jesus’s Streetcar) gang. Under the leadership of Fernando Gomes de Freitas, alias Fernandinho Guarabú, killed by police in 2019, these ‘Bonde de Jesus’ drug traffickers vandalized candomblé and umbanda terreiros (afro-brazilian ceremonial sites) on Morro do Dendê.

Priests (babalorixás) of religions of African origin (known as “pais de santo” or “mães de santo”) were even expelled – something that continues to occur today in the complex. The religious leaders, as well as their typical white vestments, were forbidden. This phenomenon spread to several communities commanded by TCP, a faction originated in 2002 from a split of the Terceiro Comando. Following Guarabú, part of the faction leadership converted to Neo-Pentecostal evangelism while serving time in state prisons.

Rio de Janeiro is an evangelical stronghold in Brazil, with 29.4% of its population professing this religion, according to the most recent census (2010).

The enemy of my enemy

The TCP faction’s main enemy is the Comando Vermelho (CV), with whom it disputes territories in various parts of Rio de Janeiro. Part of the Israel Complex was dominated by the CV and was taken by force. The TCP’s greatest trump card to guarantee its expansion and face its more numerous rival is an ally with whom it has relations that are still incipient but promising: militia groups.

In December 2020, three military police officers were arrested, suspected of involvement with Peixão’s group. Investigations indicate that the drug traffickers and the militia, gangs of former police officers and firemen who switched to the side of organized crime, made a power-sharing agreement with TCP for one of the favelas in the Complexo de Israel.

The TCP controls the drug trade, and the militia is in charge of the “gato-net” (clandestine power connections), overpriced bottled gas supply, and collection of “protection” charges paid by commercial establishments, classic activities of these groups. However, this situation is not yet completely consolidated, since some policemen who are part of the local militia are against the alliance with drug dealers. In any case, both have the same enemy: the CV, which despite having lost territory in recent years, is still the largest criminal faction in Rio de Janeiro and a force to be faced in the struggle for the hegemony of organized crime in Rio.

Rio’s militias reportedly control 25.5% of Rio de Janeiro’s neighborhoods, which cover a total of 57.5% of the city’s territory. The three main drug trafficking factions – Comando Vermelho, Terceiro Comando, and Amigos dos Amigos – dominate a combined 34.2% of neighborhoods and 15.4% of the territory. In all, 3.7 million people – 57.1% of the city’s population – live in a place controlled by a criminal group, according to surveys by various organizations with data from 2019.

Source: El Pais