Police Dismantle Drug Den Inside Petrópolis Chapel After Five Arrests

Overview

• An integrated Civil and Military police raid inside the Capela São Paulo Apóstolo arrested five suspects and shut down an active drug market.
• Officers seized 62 cocaine capsules, 25 marijuana packages, R$165 in cash, mobile phones, and a pet tortoise kept in the chapel.
• The Diocese has halted worship at the site, and reopening will wait for police clearance of the building.
• Police documented stripped pews and moved religious objects, bedding on the altar, and a couple found naked inside the sanctuary.
• Investigators are examining reported links to traffickers from Belford Roxo and to the Comando Vermelho faction.