Even imprisoned in the Gericinó prison complex, in Rio de Janeiro, the minor Silas Diniz Carvalho, known as Gordão or Mikhail (selected image), coordinated the installation and operation of one of the most structured clandestine rifle factories ever identified by the Federal Police (PF) and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF), located inside São Paulo.
A member of the Comando Vermelho (CV), Gordão was responsible for organizing payments, selecting operators, validating machines and giving direct orders to members of the criminal organization that spanned three Brazilian states and the United States, according to a complaint obtained by Metropolises.
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The weapon parts were designed and manufactured clandestinely
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The armament was assembled in a bunker inside the SP
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The joint action of the PF and the PM seized dozens of rifles
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Weapons were exchanged with criminals
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One of the group’s supposed clients would be Comando Vermelho
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Suspects with technical background worked for gang
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Factory owner among those interviewed
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His wife, Marcely Ávila Machado, known as Vitória or Vick, acted as the group’s financial director, controlling monthly payments, providing information to subordinates, and making the payments that kept clandestine production active. She was under house arrest, while Silas remained behind bars, according to the last update on the case accessed by the report, from November this year.
The defense of the suspects mentioned in this report has not been located. The space remains open for demonstrations.
International articulation
The clandestine arms factory, operated within the structure of the company Kondor Fly Parts Indústria e Comércio de Peças Aeronáuticas Ltda, was inaugurated in May 2024 in Santa Bárbara d’Oeste, in the interior of São Paulo, by the fugitive Gabriel Carvalho Belchior, who lives between Kansas City, in the US state of Texas, and Vero Beach, in Florida, as the PF pointed out.
According to the MPF, the company was a front that simulated the production of aircraft parts, but operated exclusively to give the appearance of legality to the machines and flow of parts used in the manufacture of AR platform rifles – such as the AR-15, M4 and M16 – weapons used in wars.
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Documents attached to the investigation show that Gabriel received and sent funds from his addresses in the United States and Rio de Janeiro, where he had ties to Gordão. Messages and recordings reveal, according to the MPF, that weapons parts and accessories were purchased by the gang and sent directly to Brazil, supplying the factory.
There are also records of purchases from a famous e-commerce store — including control levers and AR-15 grips — made by the also accused Walcenir Gomes Ribeiro, delivered to the address used by Gabriel, in the West Zone of Rio, before his flight to the United States. Waldecir is being held at the Pretrial Detention Center (CDP) in Campinas, inside São Paulo.
Industrial exploitation
PF’s investigation shows that Kondor Fly Parts operated in a property initially leased by the company BSW Usinagem e Comércio Ltda, currently managed by Wendel dos Santos Bastos. He rented the warehouse in 2023 and, the following year, was approached by Janderson Aparecido Ribeiro de Azevedo, under the direct order of Gordão, offering to “rent” the property and the machines already installed to clandestinely produce rifles.
The MPF states in the complaint that Wendel was aware of the illegal purpose and signed a contract with Kondor Fly Parts for R$75,500 per month, of which R$6,500 was used to rent the property and R$69,000 for the use of industrial machinery. The federal investigation reveals payments made by Gabriel himself to the real estate company that managed the warehouse.
In addition to Wendel and Janderson, the project included the currently fugitive Clayton Combe Ribeiro, a trusted technician from Gordão who validated machining machines and who had previously worked in another clandestine factory dismantled by the PF, in Belo Horizonte, in 2023. Clayton appears in digital files from that year, related to the programming of parts and weapons equipment.
Internal structure and large-scale production
To maintain the production line, the gang recruited experienced industrial operators, such as Anderson Custódio Gomes, o Boi, Dinael Enrique Borges and Lucas Gonçalves Dias, all incarcerated at the CDP in Campinas. They worked on machining parts under the direction of supervisors Clayton, Walcenir and Janderson, who were responsible for the distribution of technical parts and tasks.
According to the investigation, the defendants’ virtual disks contained project files, measurements, technical drawings and communication recordings which reinforce the existence of structured industrial production. Printouts, emails and messages show a constant flow of parts, hierarchical communication and direct coordination with Gordão, even with him behind bars.
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Weapons passed to Rio and northeast factions
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The parts were made with factory machines meant to produce aerospace parts.
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Weapons cost between R$8,000 and R$15,000
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Record seizure and storage shed
The MPF specifies that another property, in Americana, in the interior of São Paulo, rented in Walcenir’s name, served as a storage center. There, the PF seized more than 31 thousand pieces of weapons, mainly intended for the production of AR rifles. Digital copies found in Walcenir’s iCloud contain contracts, internet invoices and receipts linked to the warehouse, reinforcing his link to the clandestine production of weapons of war.
PF reports also indicate that the gang has been using these addresses and structures since January 2024, even before Kondor Fly Parts was made official. Clayton, for example, even registered the factory address on online buying and selling platforms, as shown in the process.
Criminal continuity and geographic change
The complaint shows that the Santa Bárbara d’Oeste factory is a continuation of the model discovered a year earlier, in Belo Horizonte. In 2023, Gordão and his wife were already operating a clandestine production line dismantled by the PF. The arrest of the CV member, in October of the same year, did not prevent the group from progressing, which emigrated to São Paulo, restructured the machines and expanded the scale of production under remote coordination.
For the MPF, the evidence of messages, contracts, payments, purchases, remote access to iCloud accounts and registrations on the platforms demonstrates that the criminal organization operated in a stable, transnational manner and with a clear division of tasks, producing weapons on a large scale for restricted use and with the insertion of parts from the United States.
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