Brazilian federal police seized seven Israeli-made ARAD-7 rifles...

Editor's note: ...last week in Niterói that were headed to the Terceiro Comando Puro drug faction, which controls a Rio favela complex known as Complexo de Israel and has ties to neo-Pentecostal groups that have shut down Catholic churches and Afro-Brazilian religious sites. There is no evidence that Israel is deliberately supplying weapons to Brazil's TCP drug faction; the Israeli-made rifles found with them could have been diverted through local corruption or theft from Brazilian police stocks. Catholics in Brazil could face pressure if such groups expand influence by framing local religious conflicts in geopolitical terms that heighten tensions with Jewish communities. Narcopentecostalism is the fusion of neo-Pentecostal (evangelical) Christian beliefs and symbols with drug trafficking in Brazilian favelas, most notably by the Terceiro Comando Puro (TCP) faction. Its members, led by figures like Peixão, control the Complexo de Israel in Rio, use Stars of David and Israeli imagery, call themselves "soldiers of Jesus," and have attacked Afro-Brazilian temples and pressured Catholic churches.
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Is Israel arming one of Brazil's largest criminal factions?

By Raphael Machado | October 8, 2026

Last week, 7 ARAD-7 rifles of Israeli manufacture were seized by the Brazilian Federal Police at a transport company located in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, while they were being prepared to be sent to drug traffickers of the Terceiro Comando Puro (TCP) organization. These are the same drug traffickers who control a territory called "Complexo de Israel," which brings together the favelas Cidade Alta, Parada de Lucas, Vigário Geral, Cinco Bocas, and Pica-Pau.

Two years ago, we wrote here at the Strategic Culture Foundation an article about the danger of "narcopentecostalism" – the deep linkage between drug trafficking and neo-Pentecostalism in some favelas – pointing to this new phenomenon as a possible national security threat for Brazil, as well as a potential focus of activities aimed at destabilizing the social fabric and religious persecution. Indeed, in TCP territories, Catholic churches and Afro-Brazilian religious centers are closed and violently attacked.

Nevertheless, at the time we wrote that article, in July 2024, there were not yet enough material elements to incisively affirm the existence of a direct connection between narcopentecostalism and the State of Israel. TCP traffickers exalted the State of Israel, used Israeli patches and uniforms, but all of this was circumstantial and could be explained by mere adherence to evangelical discourse.

Now, however, we have more specific evidence to be able to return to the topic and raise concern about the possible link between Israel and one of Brazil's main drug trafficking organizations.

After all, to date it is still not known how these modern Israeli rifles reached the logistical branch of an important Brazilian criminal organization, when this specific rifle is still uncommon among Brazilian police forces and nonexistent among the military.

The first objection that could be raised would be about Israel's "interest" in arming or financing a criminal organization in Brazil. Well, it would not be the first time.

In the 1980s, 500 automatic weapons (including IMI Galil rifles and Uzi submachine guns) and 200,000 rounds of ammunition were found in a warehouse belonging to the Medellín Cartel, one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in Colombia. At the time, "independent investigations" concluded that the person responsible for the operation, the mercenary and retired Israeli military officer Yair Klein, had acted on his own. Klein himself, however, always stated that his activities in Colombia (which involved not only arms sales but also the training of paramilitary groups) had the knowledge and authorization of Israeli authorities.

Please go to Strategic Culture Foundation to continue reading.
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Editor's note: A small but vocal group of mostly younger or recent-convert Catholic influencers has recently promoted anti-Zionist and sometimes antisemitic views online, framing opposition to Israel as authentic Catholicism, which has prompted strong public pushback from U.S. bishops and mainstream Catholic leaders.

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