Organised crime exchanges cocaine for votes in Brazil's 2024 elections
PCC, Comando Vermelho and militias finance candidates and coerce voters. In Rio, 53 polling places were relocated due to threats in 2024.
PCC, militias and trafficking: the infiltration of organised crime at the ballot box in Brazil
According to a report by g1.globo.com, accounts of vote-buying are multiplying across Brazil during election years, with an unprecedented aggravating factor: groups such as the PCC, Comando Vermelho and militias have begun financing candidates with money from trafficking and robberies, transforming electoral corruption into an instrument of organised crime.
"This phenomenon was already happening and now it is becoming increasingly obvious," affirms Nathalia Mariel, prosecutor at the Electoral Attorney General's Office. "It affects not only vote-buying in itself, but the choice of candidates, the possibility of people exercising their right to vote effectively in a free manner."
Federal Police investigations into electoral corruption have grown almost 20-fold since 2016. Over ten years of combating electoral corruption, the Federal Police have seized R$ 43 million.
Rio de Janeiro: coercion and relocation of polling places
In territories controlled by organised crime, the voter who sells their vote becomes a hostage. In Rio de Janeiro, the seriousness of the situation led the Regional Electoral Court (TRE-RJ) to take extreme measures: in the 2024 elections, the address of 53 polling sections was changed to protect voters from threats and coercion. For 2026, the court has already identified at least 20 electoral zones that will need to relocate again.
Judge Claudio de Mello Tavares, president of the TRE-RJ, emphasises that the electronic voting system is secure and that the vote is secret, but acknowledges that crime operates before the voting booth. "We have already had cases where the trafficker or the candidate backed by the militia was entering the polling place, threatening the voter," states the magistrate.
The case of Belford Roxo (RJ) illustrates this connection between state agents and parallel power. Policeman Michel Maia, campaign aide for candidate Dinho Resenha, was caught on wiretap threatening voters and reporting paying between R$ 50 and R$ 100 per vote. Both were convicted of electoral corruption. Dinho is suspected of links to militias. Michel Maia's defence stated that they await judgment of an appeal and that the conviction is not yet final. Dinho Resenha's defence stated that the accusations are not truthful, that there is insufficient evidence and that innocence will be proven after exhausting all available remedies.
Cocaine as electoral currency in Santa Catarina
The infiltration of organised crime into elections is not restricted to major metropolitan areas. In Timbé do Sul (SC), a drug trafficking investigation revealed a scheme in which cocaine was used as payment for votes — a case described as unprecedented by local authorities.
"It was the first time in 15 years as a police officer that I managed to verify a vote purchase with cocaine, with drugs," states Lucas Fernandes da Rosa, a police officer from the Civil Police.
The mobile phone seized from trafficker Claudiomir da Silva detailed the negotiation: photos of voter registration documents were sent and exchanged for the equivalent of R$ 50 paid in "white currency" — slang for the drug. One voter confessed to police that they had sent a photo of their document and received the merchandise in return.
The benefiting candidate, Sadi Vieira, was elected as a councillor, went on to chair the Municipal Chamber and was convicted of electoral corruption only in the last month of his mandate, in 2024.
"Hermetic" crimes hinder investigations
Prosecutors explain that investigating these offences is particularly complex because they occur in closed circles, where fear prevents witnesses from coming forward. "It is a very close circle. Can you imagine how these people would eventually be able to testify safely?" questions prosecutor Nathalia Mariel.
Public prosecutor Guilherme Franchi warns of consequences that go beyond the criminal process: the vote sold today reflects in the lack of medicines, teachers and school meals tomorrow, creating a cycle of degradation of public services. For experts, voter awareness is pointed to as the key to making the vote an instrument for improving quality of life.
For those who accepted the exchange, the prevailing feeling is regret. "Regret until today is great. In the end I took it, it bothered me and it continues to bother me because of this," reported a voter convicted in Santa Catarina.
Source: Google News BR — Crime