Torture under ice and “traffic courts”: the complaint that revealed the brutal punishments applied by the Red Command

Women submerged in ice, men dragged through the streets and victims beaten while begging for their lives are part of the cases of torture and punishment documented by the Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro, attributed to the criminal organization Red Command.

According to a complaint filed by the Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crimethe leaders and operators of the faction used these methods as mechanisms of control and discipline, applied both to their own members and to the residents of the favelas that are under their influence.

The report exposes the chain of command and sanction practices within the Red Command, which operates mainly in the complexes of the Alemão y la Penhain Rio de Janeiro.

In said file, the person most responsible for the criminal gang is identified as Edgar Alves Andrade (alias Doca), currently a fugitive from Justice, and as direct coordinator of the punishments of Juan Breno Malta Ramos Rodriguesnicknamed “BMW”.

The latter directs the so-called “traffic courts”, internal structures where members of the faction and, sometimes, residents of the communities, are brought before the leaders so that their punishment can be decided for alleged faults, disputes or transgressions of the rules imposed by the organization.

In these spaces, those responsible for the group determine, without intervention from state authorities, what physical sanction or humiliation will be applied, even going so far as to order torture or executions.

Alias ​​“BMW” also leads the enforcement group known as Shadow Teammaterially in charge of carrying out these “sanctions.”

In one of the videos that the Prosecutor’s Office had access to and presented as evidence, members of the faction immerse a woman in a bathtub full of ice, as punishment for being “conflictive at parties.”

“We do not want to hit neighbors, we believe that this is the best form of punishment” indicates a statement in the complaint, justifying the choice of method to the community.

Another episode that is part of the file shows how a man, tied, gagged and partially naked, is dragged by a vehicle in the middle of a public road, while shouting for forgiveness and repeatedly mentioning the nickname BMW.

According to the Public Ministry file, the aggressors record the entire process and even mock the victim.

“The car only stops moving when a possible fainting of the victim is observed and you hear: ‘Ih, it turned off’”, details the document.

The command structure of the Vermelho Command was also evidenced in a video call record: during the intervention, alias BMW connect on video with Carlos Costa Nevesnicknamed “Gadernal“ and orders the punished person to explain to the boss the reasons for his sanction.

The report also shows the antecedents against BMWlinked to the death of three doctors in a kiosk in Barra da Tijuca, in the south of Rio. According to police investigations, the victims were mistaken for a leader of a rival militia. After discovering the error, the faction itself executed those responsible for the attack.

The investigation indicates that BMW He did not participate in that execution, which explains why he was not subject to reprisals within the organization.

The file also highlights the actions of Fagner Campos Marinho, alias Bafoidentified as operational arm in drug trafficking and responsible for applying physical attacks.

In one of the documented cases, Guys He hit a person, recorded a video showing the bloody victim and asked him: “Do you want to die?”.

The material presented to the prosecution shows the victim tied up, in an obvious state of suffering and barely able to stammer responses after the intensity of the attack.

The Public Ministry maintains that these practices are part of a “discipline” system, used both against members accused of internal failures and against residents accused of causing disturbances in the surroundings of the favelas.

According to the complaint, the organization uses punishments to Set rules, instill fear, and demonstrate controlnot only in drug trafficking but also in the social dynamics of the neighborhoods under its influence.

The authorities also admit the challenge that confronting these behaviors represents for the judicial system, which depends largely on access to evidence and the identification of the links in the chains of command of organized crime.

According to the Public Ministry, obtaining these records allows us to strengthen investigations and hold criminally responsible both those who carry out the orders and those who issue them.

The report concludes that the validity of the violent punishment regime continues to be one of the main tools of internal and external control of the Red Command in the communities of Rio de Janeiro, and that evidencing its dynamics is essential for the criminal action of the authorities.