Militia-Controlled Community in Rio Has Own Ride-Sharing App

Uber refused to offer service in Rio das Predas due to risks

Rio de Janeiro

The Rio das Pedras favela, dominated by Rio’s oldest militia, has had its own ride-sharing app--RP Driver-- since March. Commercially, the community app benefits from threats that motorists of other apps receive when they enter the neighborhood.

Uber has taken these threats so serious that it does not offer service for rides originating in Rio das Pedras.

RP Driver has existed for less than a year. Until March, it was just a WhatsApp group. Two months ago, it evolved into an app to automate demand.

Image of a motorist ID badge for RP driver, a ride-sharing app in Rio das Pedras. - Reprodução

Driver Machine, the developer of the app, creates personalized transportation platforms for groups of drivers who are trying to avoid taxes. The company said that its contracts impede it from sharing data on its clients.

Investigators contacted by Folha were unaware of the application. They asserted that such service is impossible to offer without paid participation or consent of the militia.

Folha tried to contact representatives of the app, but they did not respond to phone calls or messages.

The tool is also offered in the Muzema favela and in other communities in the region, all of which are dominated by Rio's oldest militia, led by the former military police Adriano da Nóbrega.

Arrested five months ago, Nóbrega was a companion in the 18th MP Battalion of Fabrício Queiroz, a former assistant to Flávio Bolsonaro (PSL-RJ) who is under investigation. Nóbrega's mother and wife were nominated to work in the senator's office when he was a state deputy in Rio. During the mandate of Flávio, the former PM was even awarded the Tiradentes Medal by the then deputy.

Folha talked to residents of Rio das Pedras and other occupied regions. Some of them report threats to traditional application drivers and the advance of transportation linked to criminals.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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