Narco-Pentecostalism (Portuguese: Narcopentecostalismo) is a term used by journalists and researchers to describe the link between drug trafficking factions and neo-Pentecostal-based religions, starting in the 2010s, especially in the context of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro,[1] whether by adopting symbols related to Israel and the Old Testament,[2] or through direct cooptation as a form of money laundering, a phenomenon observed in other Brazilian states.
Vital points out that among drug traffickers, the attraction factor for evangelical churches comes from passing through the prison system (in which religious conversion has an utilitarian character, of protection within the institution and a higher moral and social status), or through family influence.
[2] After the death of Fernandinho Guarabú, with the conversion of part of the leadership of the Terceiro Comando Puro (TCP) to neo-Pentecostalism within the prison system, there was a convergence between the faction with the militias, a group that until then was seen as an enemy.
[7] The region is run by Álvaro Malaquias Santa Rosa, known as "Arão" or "Peixão", who was allegedly ordained as a pastor by an evangelical church, according to information from the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro State.
[2] One concern of civil society shown in a 2021 interview with sociologist Christina Vital, was the possibility that the rapprochement between evangelicals and drug traffickers was happening for less noble reasons, namely money laundering.
Asked if the hundreds of evangelical temples scattered around Brazil could be serving this purpose, she stated:[5] Brazilian Portuguese: Ouvi comentários sobre pastores que "esquentavam" dinheiro de traficantes para que esses saíssem da "vida do crime".
[3] Some researchers question the conversion of traffickers to neo-Pentecostalism,[1] since this would in theory be a blatant contradiction between religious discourse and daily practice (not so much in relation to the Old Testamento, which in several passages encourages the extamination of enemies in the name of faith, including women and children).
[2] Besides the Israel flags (a state whose recreation symbolizes to evangelicals the closeness of the Second Coming) visible in various points of the Complex, the trafficker ordered for Stars of David to be painted on walls in the community.
Researcher Diogo Silva Correa disputes this claim, citing testimonies from his ethnographic work carried out between 2011 and 2014 in Cidade de Deus, in Rio's West Zone.