Senate Installs Crime Inquiry, Approves Broad Probes as Lula Denounces Rio Operation

Overview

• Senators elected Fabiano Contarato to chair the Organized Crime CPI, with Hamilton Mourão as vice president and Alessandro Vieira as rapporteur.
• The CPI approved a work plan to track money laundering via fintechs and crypto, examine territorial control by factions and militias, and assess corruption and prison influence.
• Ministers Ricardo Lewandowski and José Múcio, the PF director, the Abin chief, and 11 governors — including Cláudio Castro and Tarcísio de Freitas — were approved to be heard, with dates to be set.
• Lula called the Rio operation a “matança,” urged an independent investigation with Federal Police forensic participation, and pressed Congress to pass the government’s PL Antifacção and security PEC as the opposition advances a bill to label factions as terrorists.
• The STF ordered preservation of all evidence from the operation and set a hearing for Wednesday, while Castro delivered a report asserting legal compliance and proportional force and acknowledged body‑camera failures and a probe into premature removal of bodies.