Bahia Civil Police arrest eight people for illegal weapons sales scheme, including former deputy mayor of Ceará

Heverton Costa Silva, businessman and former vice-mayor of Icapuí (CE) — Photo: Reproduction

An operation by the Civil Police of Bahia resulted in the arrest of eight people for a scheme to illegally buy and sell weapons to criminal organizations in Salvador. Among those arrested is Heverton Costa Silva, from Ceará, former deputy mayor of the municipality of Icapuí, a tourist paradise located on the border between Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte.

According to the investigation, a couple living in Rio de Janeiro, identified as Ricardo Oliveira de Sá and Luciana Nerio Leite, used falsified documents to obtain Collector, Shooter and Hunter (CAC) registrations and, with this, buy weapons and ammunition that were then resold to members of criminal factions.

TV Verdes Mares sought out Heverton Costa's defense to comment on the arrest, but received no response.

According to the Civil Police of Bahia, Heverton Costa is being investigated for laundering money obtained from the illegal sale of weapons. Financial transactions related to him and the couple identified as responsible for the scheme were identified.

Born in Aracati, a city neighboring Icapuí, Heverton Costa is 42 years old and is a fish businessman in Icapuí, a municipality considered a tourist paradise and also the largest lobster producer in Ceará.

In 2004, at the age of 20, he was elected councilor of Icapuí by the now extinct PRP. In 2008, he was elected vice-mayor by the PSDB. In 2024, he ran for mayor of Icapuí for the PT, but resigned his candidacy in the middle of the campaign alleging "unexpected political betrayal".

In addition to Heverton Silva, the Bahia Civil Police operation also arrested another person in Ceará, identified as Francisca Alves Costa Silva. The woman was arrested in Fortaleza. Despite having the same surnames as Heverton, it is unclear whether the two are related.

How was the operation

In total, eight people were arrested during the operation, four in Bahia, two in Rio de Janeiro and another two in Ceará (Heverton and Francisca). Search and seizure warrants were also executed in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul.

The Civil Police reported that the Court authorized the blocking of up to R$100 million in assets and valuables belonging to those being investigated. Some of the weapons purchased by the group were later seized from members of criminal organizations. For the Civil Police, this indicates that the weapons were intended for resale to these groups.

According to TV Bahia, the eight prisoners were:

Ricardo Oliveira de Sá and Luciana Nerio Leite, a couple identified as having a "central role" in the scheme, used falsified documents to buy weapons and ammunition that were then resold to members of criminal factions; they live in Rio de Janeiro, but went to Salvador (BA)

Ailton Alves de França, arrested in Salvador (BA); did not play the role in the scheme explained

Marcelo Henrique Leite was arrested in the city of Lauro de Freitas (BA); did not play the role in the scheme explained

Nilo Ferreira Confort and Leonardo Guia Vieira, arrested in Rio de Janeiro (RJ); did not play a role in the scheme explained

Heverton Costa Silva, businessman and former vice-mayor of Icapuí, who according to the Civil Police helped the couple launder money from weapons sales; was arrested in Icapuí (CE)

Francisca Alves Costa Silva, was arrested in Fortaleza (CE); did not play the role in the scheme explained

In addition to the arrest warrants, 25 search warrants were also executed. During the operation, the following were seized:

five vehicles;

nine cell phones;

three notebooks;

three firearms;

ammunition;

R$5,000 in cash;

documents.