Another operation on the eve of the election. This time, the target is Marcelo Crivella.

In yet another spectacular operation on the eve of the election, without any new developments, Mayor Marcelo Crivella's home and office were targeted by an operation by the Rio de Janeiro State Public Prosecutor's Office (MPRJ) and the Civil Police on Thursday morning. Crivella's cell phone was seized. Agents are executing a total of 22 search and seizure warrants issued by Judge Rosa Maria Helena Guita, the reporting judge on the case at the Court of Justice. Teams are also searching addresses linked to former Senator Eduardo Lopes, businessman Rafael Alves, and Mauro Macedo, the former treasurer of Crivella's Senate campaign.

Certainly, the operation is important and should be launched to advance the investigation. The burning question, however, is: why only now, at the beginning of the electoral process? This coincidence raises suspicions that sectors of the judiciary want to supervise the political process.

The operation is an offshoot of Operation Hades, which investigated "Bribery HQ," an alleged bribery scheme to release payments from the Rio de Janeiro City Hall. The first operation, on March 10, targeted former Riotur president Marcelo Alves; his brother, Rafael Alves; and businessman João Alberto Felippo Barreto, known as João da Locanty, all suspected of embezzlement, organized crime, and money laundering.

A Civil Police car left the City Palace in Botafogo around 7:20 a.m. A Civil Police team also visited the condominium where Mayor Marcelo Crivella lives, on the Peninsula in Barra da Tijuca. Crivella accompanied the search, handed over his cell phone, and then left to fulfill an external agenda. Shortly before 7 a.m., three Civil Police cars—from the General Department for Combating Corruption, Organized Crime, and Money Laundering (DGCOR-LD)—arrived at Rio City Hall headquarters in Cidade Nova. Two entered through the side of the building, while the third remained parked at the main entrance. At 9:30 a.m., they left the city hall carrying a mail bag.