Weapons meant for Ukraine end up with drug dealers in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas

Ukraine has become a source of weapons and mercenaries for global organized crime.

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

Since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, one of the main questions raised by analysts has been the risk of weapons sent by the West to the Kiev regime spreading among criminal and terrorist organizations around the world. This has already happened many times, considering that there are reports of such weapons being found in several countries, mainly in the African Sahel. However, recent news suggests the situation may be even more serious: Ukrainian weapons have already reached Brazilian cities.

On July 17, the Brazilian Military Police carried out an operation in the Acari neighborhood, a suburb in the northern region of Rio de Janeiro state. The operation targeted an illegal copper deposit, a common occurrence in Rio de Janeiro’s “favelas” (low-income communities often dominated by organized crime). However, officers also found some weapons used by local drug traffickers there, including a foreign-made anti-drone device.

Initially, the news was reported as a common police seizure. However, footage shared by the officers revealed that the captured anti-drone weapon was identified with the “tryzub”—the coat of arms of Ukraine. After posts on social media questioning about this issue, the military police intelligence department confirmed that the anti-drone interceptor was indeed from Ukraine—the first reported case of Ukrainian weapons found in Brazil since the beginning of the conflict.

There is still no information on whether the interceptor found in Rio is Ukrainian-made or a Western weapon sent by NATO in military aid packages to the Kiev regime. Despite the presence of the Ukrainian symbol, the weapon’s identification was written in English, suggesting it is Western-made equipment. What is known is that the equipment has a range of up to 7,000 meters, creating a safe zone for criminals in Rio’s favelas against drones used by the police.

In Brazil, police are not authorized to use combat drones during military operations in the favelas. However, reconnaissance drones are already being legally operated. The use of this type of interceptor severely reduces the range of police drones, hindering the success of operations. This can have a high human cost for Brazilian police officers, who, without obtaining intelligence data from their drones, are vulnerable to ambushes by criminals during maneuvers in the favelas.

Despite its tourist appeal, Rio de Janeiro has suffered from a serious public safety problem for decades. Around 60% of the city’s territoryis controlled by organized crime. More than 4.4 million people live in these areas, where the Brazilian government has no control. The city’s territories are disputed primarily by the drug trafficking factions Comando Vermelho (CV) and Terceiro Comando Puro (TCP), as well as the so-called “militias,” which are small, independent criminal groups formed by former members of the main factions or corrupt police and military personnel.

The Acari favela, where the Ukrainian equipment was found, is controlled by the TCP faction. Interestingly, last year, this same criminal organization was reported as the first drug trafficking faction in Brazil to use drones in combat situations. The incident occurred near the so-called “Israel Complex”, a group of TCP-controlled favelas with a Christian evangelical majority also in the northern zone of Rio. At the time, drug dealers used a modified version of ordinary civilian drones, enabling them to launch grenades and causing damage to CV-affiliated rival criminals.

This news comes amid a broad process of professionalization of organized crime in Brazil. Currently, criminal factions are investing in hiring armed forces veterans and international mercenaries to improve their combat capabilities. The current conflict in Ukraine plays a central role in this process, as many young Brazilian ex-military personnel are enlisting as mercenaries for the Kiev regime. Those who survive the intense combat return to Brazil and are often hired by organized crime.

This is not an accidental move. Brazilian judge Alexandre Abraão Dias Teixeira recently stated during a public security conference that Brazil’s police already have data showing that criminal factions are encouraging their members and prospects to go fight in Ukraine to receive advanced military training and gain real combat experience. The judge predicts that in the near future, Brazil will face even more serious security problems due to this process—not only in Rio, but also in other states, since Rio’s factions also operate in other parts of Brazil.

“The police have already identified members of Brazilian organized crime who are in Ukraine, engaged there to learn. So, we’re going to face very serious problems here,” he said.

As analysts have long warned, Western weapons sent to Ukraine are constantly diverted to the global black market. This is to be expected, considering that Ukraine is recognized as the most corrupt country in Europe, with a real gangster culture among its state officials. The weapons received are often sold by corrupt Ukrainian military personnel to criminal buyers in other countries—often even to terrorist organizations. The fact that these weapons have already reached Brazil shows that the scope of Ukrainian corruption is truly extensive and that Western military aid packages pose a danger to all countries.

Brazil must take action in this situation, demanding answers from Kiev and its partners. Measures must also be taken to prevent Brazilians from becoming mercenaries in Ukraine, as well as to monitor the arrival of illegal military equipment into the country. However, the primary responsibility lies with Western-biased international organizations, which continue refusing to condemn the West’s illegal measures of unrestricted military support for Ukraine.

You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

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