Court maintains Márcio Canella's arrest in custody hearing

The court maintained the arrest of the former mayor of the city of Belford Roxo, Márcio Canella (União Basil), this Wednesday (8), during a custody hearing. Canella was arrested by the Federal Police in Rio de Janeiro after agents found a restricted-use .556 caliber rifle inside one of his cars.

The court also converted the arrest of Márcio Canella into preventive detention. He will be held in the Bangu Penitentiary Complex, in the West Zone of the city.

According to an investigation by the Federal Police, the most voted state deputy in Rio in the 2022 elections, is the political arm of a criminal organization suspected of laundering money through a network of gas stations in the Metropolitan Region of the State, which generated R$7.6 billion in six years, according to the Intelligence Report of the Financial Activities Control Council (COAF), sent to the PF.

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The delegate and former head of Rio's Civil Police, Marcus Amim, is also part of this criminal organization, according to the PF.

Canella and Amim were the targets of search and seizure warrants on Tuesday (7), in the 6th phase of Operation Nail and Flesh, which investigates the involvement of politicians with organized crime. Márcio Canella ended up being arrested after the Federal Police found a rifle inside one of the former mayor of Belford Roxo's cars.

The operation was authorized by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Federal Police agents aimed to comply with 19 search and seizure warrants. They went to companies and houses linked to the targets of the operation, in the cities of Niterói, São Gonçalo, Itaboraí and Resende.

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In total, the Federal Police seized during:

- approximately R$919 thousand and US$13 thousand, in cash;
- a restricted caliber rifle;
- nine short weapons (revolvers and pistols);
- seven computers;
- 23 cell phones;
- 11 luxury vehicles;
- luxury jewelry and watches;
- miscellaneous documents.

Canella is transferred to prison and awaits a custody hearing in RJ | BEHIND THE SCENES CNN

In addition to the former mayor of Belford Roxo, a military police officer was also arrested. According to the PF, he had a pistol at the residence of one of the people being investigated, in Camboinhas (Niterói/RJ).

CNN Brazil attempted to contact the military police officer's defense team, but until the end of this report they preferred not to comment. We also try to locate Márcio Canella's defense, the space remains open for positioning.

Source: CNN