Rio de Janeiro police bust illegal bingo linked to new 'jogo do bicho' leadership

The Rio de Janeiro State Public Ministry’s special organized‑crime unit (Gaeco) carried out a search‑and‑seizure operation on 6 August 2026 at a clandestine bingo on Rua Conde de Bonfim in the Tijuca neighbourhood. About 99‑100 slot‑machine units were confiscated and taken away on a truck. Investigators say the bingo was a core part of the financial structure of a newly‑formed leadership of the illegal "jogo do bicho" syndicate, dubbed the “new cúpula”. The operation targeted the group’s leaders – Rogério Costa de Andrade, Vinícius Pereira Drumond and Adilson Oliveira Coutinho Filho (known as Adilsinho) – whose coordinated activity was first uncovered through phone data seized during the 2024 Operation Fissão. Earlier raids on a property on Rua Maxwell in Vila Isabel had yielded 48 machines. Authorities aim to gather further evidence, identify additional members and disrupt the group’s financing, which also supports cigarette trafficking and online gambling, reportedly moving roughly R$130 million in three years.