Man who used code name to avoid being identified as drug ringleader spent 15 days in Paris, police say

• Organized crime: the operation in Anchieta targets 36 suspects belonging to the operational and financial centers of the CV
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On his social networks, the police obtained a photo where he appears in front of one of the postcards of Paris: the Eiffel Tower. According to delegates Thiago Neves of the DRF and Thainne Moraes of the 14th DP, the drug trafficker managed to travel abroad because, at the time, no arrest warrant had been issued in his name. To avoid being identified, Rafael used the code name Galo. The nickname appears in messages published by the gang, which is also linked to Edgar Alves de Andrade, Doca or Urso. The latter is one of the CEOs of CV and controls drug trafficking in Complexo da Penha, in the northern zone of Rio.

— An interesting feature of this criminal organization was the use of code names. Rafael da Silva Titaro, known as Galo, emerged unharmed and without an arrest warrant. And this even allowed him to make a trip to Paris in June this year, — said delegate Thiago Neves.

After being identified by police, Rafael da Silva Titara was placed in preventive detention by Rio’s 26th Criminal Court on December 9. He managed to escape the police siege this Friday. Thirteen other people suspected of belonging to the gang and whose arrests were ordered were located and arrested. In total, 36 arrest warrants and 72 search and seizure warrants were issued. Galo is also named in the investigation as the leader of the “Tropa do César”, a still unidentified bandit who is a sort of armed branch of the anti-drug group Az de Ouro.

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According to the Civil Police, the investigation made it possible to map the entire criminal structure that controlled the community area of ​​Az de Ouro and to identify the members of the gang and their specific functions. Among the 36 criminals identified are operational leaders, drug managers, arms distributors and those responsible for collection and financial transactions. Investigators discovered that only one of the four accounts used by members of the group processed 1.2 million reais in just 15 days.

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It is already known that the criminal group used money from vehicle thefts, merchandise thefts, drug sales and extortion to buy weapons in countries bordering Brazil. The gang was organized and operated with at least four different groups.

— During the investigation, we were able to clearly demonstrate the criminal governance structure that this criminal organization included in the region. We were able to identify, and this was the great success of this operation, around 95% of the associated split individuals (who work in Az de Ouro). A financial core was identified, responsible for sending money to the border regions, and therefore buying drugs and weapons. A group responsible for vehicle thefts, today several parts of stolen vehicles have been seized. It is a core responsible for war and invasions of other factions’ territories. There was also a marketing core. The arrest of an associate who called himself DJ was ordered. He composed songs in support of the faction, actively integrated the community by participating in negotiations and carried out the entire marketing strategy during the balls and in the expansionist logic of the faction,” said the delegate.

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According to delegate Thainne Moraes, of the 14th DP, the material seized this Friday, during the execution of search and seizure warrants, will serve to provide information for a new phase of the investigation, already underway. Among what has already been discovered during the investigations carried out by the intelligence sector of the two police stations, there is the operation of a kind of drug court in the Az de Ouro favela. In May 2025, the criminal group reportedly executed a resident of the community. He was allegedly murdered by criminals who accused him of being a police informant. According to the investigation, the victim was killed and his body dismembered.

— This (the execution of a resident) is a guide for this faction, for these leaders of this faction. What happened before this court in the Az de Ouro community happens in dozens of communities with territories dominated by the CV – said delegate André Neves, director of the General Department of Specialized Police.