Escritório do Crime was one of the largest and most powerful militia groups in Brazil’s second-largest city, Rio de Janeiro.
In recent years, the group has gained notoriety for a series of high-profile contract killings, most notably the murder of councilwoman Marielle Franco in August 2018. Following the capture and death of its founding leaders, it stopped operating and opened space for other militia groups that continue expanding their influence in Rio.
The membership of Escritório do Crime (Office of Crime) was largely made up of former and serving police officers working primarily as hitmen. Still, their criminal portfolio included drug trafficking, extortion and other organized crime activities.
History
Escritório do Crime was created in the mid-2000s by a former special operations police captain named Adriano Magalhães da Nóbrega, alias “Capitão Adriano.” The group’s main criminal activity was contract killings, and its main clients were bosses of jogo do bicho, an illegal gambling game linked to the origins of organized crime in Rio de Janeiro.
Nóbrega participated in at least eight contract killings between 2006 and 2009, according to police. He allegedly took orders from José Luiz de Barros Lopes, alias “Zé Personal,.” the son-in-law of jogo do bicho boss Waldemir Paes Garcia, alias “Maninho.” Nóbrega also worked as a security guard for Maninho’s family.
Between 2009 and 2016, three of the group’s key members – Nóbrega, João André Martins Ferreira, and Antônio Eugênio de Souza Freitas, alias “Batoré” – allegedly carried out another series of contract killings. In March 2016, But in March 2016, Martins was killed as he was leaving a bakery in Rio’s northern zone. Nóbrega himself is suspected of committing the crime
The militia group made headlines in August 2018 when it was linked to the murder of Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes. Franco was a councilwoman who had been an outspoken critic of police brutality in Rio de Janeiro’s marginalized favelas.
In March 2019, two former police officers with ties to Escritório do Crime were arrested in connection with Franco’s murder. Ronnie Lessa, a former police sergeant and expert sniper, was later convicted of shooting Franco, while Élcio de Queiroz, a former military police officer, acted as Lessa’s driver.
On the same day that Lessa was arrested, a police raid uncovered 117 M-16 assault rifles at a Rio home linked to him. Investigators said that Lessa was a contract killer and gunrunner for the militia group, who had been forced to retire from the police after being severely injured in a car bomb attack.
The increased scrutiny of the group following Franco’s murder exposed alleged links to high-ranking politicians. Lessa had been living in the same luxury condominium building where then-President Jair Bolsonaro owned an apartment. What’s more, in January 2019, it emerged that Flávio Bolsonaro, the president’s eldest son, had employed the wife and mother of the militia group’s founder, Nóbrega. Nóbrega also allegedly participated in a salary kick-back scheme, known as “rachadinha,” involving Flávio Bolsonaro.
The group began to crumble as political pressure mounted to show results in the Franco murder investigation. An operation, dubbed “The Untouchables” (Os Intocáveis), was carried out in January 2019 to arrest key militia members operating in the Rio das Pedras favela. Among the five people arrested was the military police officer Ronaldo Paulo Alves Pereira, who allegedly took part in the assassination.
In February 2020, Nóbrega was killed in a gunfight with the police in the northeastern state of Bahia during an attempt to arrest him.
In the same year, two other members of the group, Leandro Gouvêa da Silva, alias “Tonhão,” and Leonardo Gouvêa da Silva, alias “Mad,” were arrested and later convicted for the killing of Marcelo Diotti, a former rival of Nóbrega.
In August 2021, amid a broad crackdown on militia operations in Rio de Janeiro, police arrested Edmilson Gomes Menezes, alias “Macaquinho.” He was said to be Escritorio do Crime’s boss in much of the north and west of the city and having been linked to the murder of Marielle Franco.
With all of its founding leaders and members arrested or dead, Escritório do Crime stopped operating in the early 2020s.
Criminal Activities
Escritório do Crime exercised high levels of criminal governance over the Rio das Pedras favela by providing essential services and engaging in extortion rackets and murder-for-hire operations. According to police investigations, the militia group charged up to 1.5 million reais ($300,000) per victim.
The criminal group also had a monopoly over illegal gas sales, Internet access, transportation, mining and even oil theft. The extortion money is then used to fund illegal real estate in Rio de Janeiro.
In April 2019, two residential buildings collapsed in the community of Muzema in Rio de Janeiro, killing at least four people. A police operation revealed that the buildings had been constructed illegally. A further investigation revealed that Escritório do Crime had financed the construction of a number of these buildings, selling illegal apartments off for thousands of dollars.
Leadership
Adriano Magalhães da Nóbrega, alias “Capitão Adriano,” was the alleged leader of Escritório do Crime until his death in February 2020.
Then, Leonardo Gouvêa da Silva, alias “Mad,” took over as the top leader until his arrest in June 2020 in an operation along with his brother Leandro Gouvêa da Silva, alias “Tonhão.”
Geography
The Escritório do Crime group’s base of operations was the Rio das Pedras favela in Rio’s West Zone.
Allies and Enemies
Escritório do Crime had strong ties to public officials and security forces, allowing them to operate with impunity. The militia’s alleged link to the Bolsonaro family also demonstrates that they had consolidated political connections.
The group also tried to infiltrate political circles for other criminal purposes. In 2016, for example, two members of the organization joined the political party where Marielle Franco operated, with the alleged aim of monitoring the councillor before her killing.
Prospects
After Escritório do Crime stopped operating, other militia groups continued to expand their influence in Rio de Janeiro. In May 2025, Rio de Janeiro’s police conducted an operation against a militia group known as the “New Escritório do Crime” on allegations of contract killings and arms trafficking, but authorities revealed few details about the group.