In a powerful illustration of how religion mixes with crime, Brazilian police scaled a water tank in a Rio de Janeiro favela and pulled down a flag bearing the Star of David that had been raised by one of the city’s most powerful crime gangs. 

The flag, which was captured by authorities in January, was part of a bold territorial move by the criminal group Pure Third Command (Terceiro Comando Puro – TCP). The TCP, which blends Pentecostalism with illicit activities, had planted it to assert its control over the area after violent clashes with rival gangs. 

The TCP maintains influence over the favela, known as Morro dos Macacos, which is a hotspot of intense criminal activity and frequent police operations. In 2024 alone, the area witnessed 80 shootings tied to criminal disputes, according to O Globo, and in early January, the favela was targeted for invasion by the Red Command (Comando Vermelho – CV), another of Rio’s major gangs, prompting the push for TCP’s visible symbolism.

SEE ALSO:Inside the Battle for Rio de Janeiro: Red Command Versus Militias

The Red Command is deeply involved in retail drug sales and trafficking in Rio and in other Brazilian areas, and has been reasserting itself over other criminal organizations in the city. The attempted invasion of Morro dos Macacos is part of broader efforts from the gang to regain lost territory and secure its influence in Rio’s criminal markets after a decade of decline.

Religion: as an Organizing Force

The TCP did not start as a religious group. It originated in the mid-1980s after breaking away from the Red Command. The split was driven by members seeking to capitalize on Brazil’s growing drug market, aided by a leadership void in the gang. Since then, TCP has grown into one of the Red Command’s fiercest rivals in Rio, combining a spiritual and combative message to become one of the city’s most durable criminal groups.

It is not surprising. Religion serves as a powerful organizing force for crime gangs in Brazil and much of Latin America, offering a mixture of legitimacy, social control, inner cohesion, and branding. While it may seem contradictory, the integration of religion into gang culture reflects its deep roots in the social fabric of marginalized neighborhoods, where faith often coexists with violence and survival. 

What’s more, in the absence of strong governmental institutions, gangs often fill the vacuum, in part by creating a parallel community based on shows of strength and illustrations of faith in a higher order.

“Both gangs and Pentecostal churches seem to be solutions built on peripheries as ways of dealing with poverty. The gangs have created a discourse aimed at professionalizing crime, and the churches came up with other institutional solutions,” Bruno Paes Manso, a researcher at the University of São Paulo Center for the Study of Violence, told InSight Crime.

Pentecostalism is particularly suited for these environments, according to the Revealer. In Brazil, it has gained traction within prisons and poor neighborhoods, in part because of its emphasis on health and wealth: Pentecostalism believes that faith can bring material success and that God’s blessing manifests through financial prosperity.

The concept of the end times also plays a significant role in the adoption of Pentecostalism by criminals. For Pentecostals, humanity is hurtling toward the apocalypse, which divides the world into believers and non-believers. When the time arrives, the belief dictates, the chosen believers like themselves will be spared a rapture, while the others will suffer the wrath of God.

The binary approach makes life easy for Pentecostal criminals, who can frame their battle against rivals in this religious light. 

“The rhetoric of spiritual battle is the basis for Protestantism and fosters a continuous sense of threat, which aligns with the logics of crime,” Carlos Cypriano, an academic at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, told InSight Crime. 

The Star of David Connection

The story behind the flag is an extension of this idea. Some Pentecostal churches incorporate the Star of David because they believe that Jews are chosen people.

For the TCP, the flag – which is also stamped on the gang’s drug packages – is also linked to its leader, Álvaro Malaquias Santa Rosa, alias “Peixão.” According to Manso, Peixão uses Pentecostalism to portray himself as a divinely chosen drug dealer, intertwining faith with violence to consolidate power, establish authority, and expand the gang’s influence. 

“By portraying this idea, he started presenting himself as operating by divine will, gaining legitimacy and authority to distinguish the TCP from other gangs,” he said. “He used religious discourse to produce authority and obedience, and to exert power.” 

By 2020, Peixão had taken control of five Rio-based favelas and founded what the media has dubbed the “Israeli Complex,” leveraging religion to draw a devoted support network, attract recruits, and thereby solidify his stronghold. 

SEE ALSO:Santa Muerte Worship Continues Spreading Beyond Mexico

“The name arose from the legitimization of [TCP’s] parastatal military power,” Cypriano told InSight Crime. 

Today, a neon Star of David shines prominently from one of the complex’s water tanks, which locals say is a striking emblem of TCP’s dominance in the area. 

The use of religion by the TCP has drawn criticism from Pentecostal leaders, who argue that gangs should not associate crime with God. But the TCP is not the only criminal group exploiting religious principles to further its activities. Aaron’s Troop (Tropa de Aarão), a smaller gang based in Rio with ties to the TCP, also aligns itself with evangelical ideals. The gang’s name is inspired by the biblical figure Aaron, the brother of Moses.

“Considering the way the state is absent from some communities, organized crime takes various roles within these neighborhoods, so it is also natural that it will enter into religious matters, and this phenomenon will expand to the rest of Brazil,” Fábio Fernandes Chaim, a Brazilian criminal defense lawyer, told InSight Crime.

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