A few days after Carnival in Brazil in 2025, one of the country’s premier samba schools, Salgueiro, issued a blistering critique on Instagram of the Rio de Janeiro judges. Salgueiro is a perennial top finisher, so its fall to seventh in the annual parade hit the school hard.
“To the crooks on duty, we issue a warning: Salgueiro will not be intimidated by this gang of thieves that is trying to destroy Carnival, going after those who are clean,” it read. “Salgueiro, together with other samba schools, will work for a Carnival that is transparent, clean, and fair, out of respect for Carnival and for all lovers of the celebration.”
At the top of Salgueiro’s post was a message of gratitude for the school’s top financial patron, Adilson Oliveira Coutinho Filho. Oliveira, better known as “Adilsinho,” is a legendary bicheiro, the name Brazilians use to describe those who control informal lotteries in neighborhoods around the city.
The lotteries, referred to as Jogo do Bicho, are not just a way to make money. They are an avenue to political and social power in Rio, especially as it relates to the famous samba schools, which have long been the domain of the bicheiros.
The problem was that Adilsinho, who played professional soccer for a time, was also an accused criminal. On at least four occasions, authorities investigated him for crimes ranging from murder to expand his bicheiro business, to peddling contraband cigarettes with a mafia that operated in 11 Brazilian states.
For a time, he seemed untouchable. He beat each of the charges. And for his 51st birthday in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, he invited 500 guests to celebrate with him at the iconic Copacabana Palace. On the invite, he reportedly referred to himself as “The Godfather” (O Poderoso Chefão).
But by the time Carnival came around again this year, things were heating up for Adilsinho on another, arguably more dangerous front. The missive issued by his samba school in 2025 had left bad blood among the leaders of the schools, and prior to this year’s huge parade, Salgueiro issued another statement, which further infuriated its most important players.
This one said the school had complete confidence in the judges. While there was no mention of Adilsinho, who had reportedly distanced himself from the school, many people interpreted the message as a veiled threat from the man himself that the judges better not relegate Salgueiro a second year in a row.
Six days later, Adilsinho was in handcuffs. The incredible carnivalesque turn seemed to send the message that contraband cigarettes, and even murder, were okay. But that challenging the Carnival hierarchy would not be tolerated.
Born Into the Jogo do Bicho Business
Adilsinho was born into a Jogo do Bicho clan in Duque de Caxias, a municipality in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro. His father was a bicheiro who ran a network of lotteries all over the city. Over time, they got rich and moved to Rio’s high-end neighborhood of Leblon.
From an early age, Adilsinho was involved in his family’s operations. The lottery works like any other: Bicheiros sell tickets through street vendors, bars, kiosks, and newspaper stands. Many also manage slot machines and other low-grade gambling machines.
Adilsinho was a good bicheiro, and expanded his family’s criminal grip. He allegedly defrauded slot machines and perfected ways to make gambling more appealing by increasing the frequency of awards and reducing the amount paid to gamblers to guarantee a minimum profit. He also won more territory, which for bicheiros, is crucial. More city blocks equals more lottery tickets sold.
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Beginning in the 2000s, Adilsinho also expanded his business to other Brazilian states, sometimes at gunpoint. According to Brazilian prosecutors, he orchestrated the murder of the owner of an online gambling company in the northeastern state of Maranhão. And in 2023, the police accused his cigarette mafia of killing a legitimate cigarette distributor in Rio as part of a plan to eliminate competitors and establish dominance over the supply chain.
At some point, prosecutors say he also began manufacturing contraband cigarettes in Paraguay, which his network then trafficked and sold in Brazil. To facilitate the trade, he bribed Paraguayan and Brazilian authorities. He also allegedly used slave labor: In 2022, authorities rescued some 70 Paraguayans working in slave-like conditions in Adilsinho’s clandestine cigarette factories.
The Samba Squabble
In 2022, Adilsinho made a phone call to a close relative. The two talked about a lot of things, including the leadership of Carnival.
Carnival is run by the Independent Samba School League (Liga Independente de Escolas de Samba, or LIESA, as they refer to it in Brazil). LIESA was created in 1984 by a group of prominent bicheiros. Ostensibly the leaders sought to professionalize and manage the samba school parades that are the heart of Brazil’s Carnival. But in practice, it was a way to launder their image and bolster their political and social power.
“[LIESA] is the public face of the [Jogo do Bicho] leadership. It is the legitimate face that consolidated the upper echelon’s political power,” Rômulo Labronici, Ph.D. in Anthropology from Fluminense Federal University (Universidade Federal Fluminense – UFF) and a Jogo do Bicho expert, told InSight Crime.
Labronici said the bicheiros used this political power to gain top cover. He noted that leaders of LIESA met with politicians who later paved the way for the construction of Rio’s Sambódromo, the famous 80,000-seat stadium where the parade takes place and arguably the most important symbol of the gray market the bicheiros represent.
For his part, at the time Adilsinho did not manage a samba school, but he felt LIESA was being bullied by two powerhouse schools. And during the call, he blasted these leaders as criminals who had disrespected the traditional Carnival leadership.
“It’s over. It’s in the past! It’s a whole new generation now!” he told his relative. “They’re all crooks! Total scoundrels! They sweet-talk us, but they just want to call the shots! The old guard is long gone.”
He also revealed his next move, telling his relative that he was in talks to take over a samba school. In time, he would.
By then, as part of their investigations, police were intercepting Adilsinho’s calls, and, after the transcript of this one was leaked to the press, a scandal erupted. His relationship with LIESA was scarred forever.
In response, Adilsinho changed tact, expanding into the territory of another bicheiro clan, which had long financed Salgueiro, a powerhouse samba school in its own right. Salgueiro had a long and bloody history. Beginning in 2004, a number of Salgueiro patrons had been murdered, but by 2024, Adilsinho, with the help of two other bicheiros in territory that he had usurped, gained control of the school.
Then came Carnival 2025. And after Salgueiro finished seventh, Adilsinho smelled something fishy in the judges’ decision, and his school issued that blistering missive on Instagram. It might have been, in hindsight, the beginning of the end for him.
Featured image: A float pictured at Brazil’s annual Carnival celebration in Rio de Janeiro. Credit: InSight Crime/Liza Schmidt.
Facts Only
Salgueiro, a top samba school in Brazil, finished seventh in the 2025 Rio Carnival parade.
After the results, Salgueiro issued an Instagram post accusing Carnival judges of corruption and thanking its financial patron, Adilson Oliveira Coutinho Filho ("Adilsinho").
Adilsinho is a *bicheiro*, a term for individuals controlling informal lotteries (*Jogo do Bicho*) in Brazil.
Adilsinho has faced multiple criminal investigations, including for murder, contraband cigarette trafficking, and slave labor in Paraguay.
He was acquitted in prior cases and celebrated his 51st birthday in 2021 with 500 guests at Rio’s Copacabana Palace.
In 2025, Salgueiro later issued a statement expressing confidence in the judges, which was interpreted as a veiled threat from Adilsinho.
Adilsinho was arrested six days after the statement.
He was born into a *bicheiro* family in Duque de Caxias and expanded his operations across Rio and other Brazilian states.
Police intercepted a 2022 phone call where Adilsinho criticized Carnival leadership and revealed plans to take over a samba school.
By 2024, Adilsinho gained control of Salgueiro with the help of other *bicheiros*.
The Independent Samba School League (LIESA) was founded in 1984 by *bicheiros* to manage Carnival parades.
LIESA has been described as a tool for *bicheiros* to legitimize their influence and gain political power.
Executive Summary
In 2025, Salgueiro, a top-tier samba school in Brazil, publicly accused Rio de Janeiro Carnival judges of corruption after finishing seventh in the annual parade. The school’s Instagram post thanked its financial patron, Adilson Oliveira Coutinho Filho ("Adilsinho"), a prominent *bicheiro*—a figure tied to Brazil’s informal lottery system, *Jogo do Bicho*. Adilsinho, a former professional soccer player, had faced multiple criminal investigations, including allegations of murder, contraband cigarette trafficking, and slave labor in Paraguay, though he had evaded conviction. His influence extended into Carnival, where *bicheiros* historically wield power through financing samba schools and controlling the Independent Samba School League (LIESA). Tensions escalated when Salgueiro later issued a statement expressing confidence in the judges, which many interpreted as a veiled threat from Adilsinho. Days later, he was arrested. The case highlights the intersection of organized crime, cultural institutions, and political power in Rio, where *bicheiros* operate in a gray zone of legitimacy and illegality.
Adilsinho’s rise mirrored the broader dynamics of *Jogo do Bicho*, a system that blends gambling, social influence, and criminal enterprise. Born into a *bicheiro* family, he expanded his operations through alleged fraud, territorial control, and violence, including murders tied to business disputes. His involvement in Carnival reflected a longstanding tradition of *bicheiros* using cultural patronage to launder their reputations and consolidate power. However, his public feud with Carnival’s leadership—exposed through leaked phone calls—alienated key allies and drew scrutiny. His arrest followed a pattern where challenges to the established hierarchy proved more consequential than his criminal activities, suggesting that the system tolerates certain transgressions but punishes threats to its stability.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative exposes the symbiotic relationship between organized crime and cultural institutions in Brazil, where *bicheiros* like Adilsinho operate as both criminals and patrons of Carnival. The article effectively traces how figures like Adilsinho leverage cultural capital to launder their reputations while maintaining control through violence and corruption. The arrest following his public challenge to Carnival’s hierarchy suggests a system that tolerates criminality but enforces loyalty to its power structures. This aligns with historical patterns where informal power brokers—whether mafias, cartels, or oligarchs—embed themselves in civic life to secure impunity.
However, the narrative risks oversimplifying the *bicheiros*’ role as purely predatory. While their criminal activities are well-documented, their patronage of samba schools also reflects a complex social contract in Rio’s marginalized communities, where they provide jobs, funding, and cultural pride. The article’s focus on Adilsinho’s downfall as a result of his defiance—rather than his crimes—raises questions about selective enforcement. Why was challenging Carnival’s leadership the tipping point, not the murders or slave labor? This suggests a power structure where certain transgressions are permissible as long as they don’t disrupt the established order.
Root cause: The paradigm here is the normalization of gray-market power, where criminal enterprises and cultural institutions become intertwined. The unstated assumption is that Carnival’s integrity is secondary to maintaining the *bicheiros*’ control—a system that benefits elites while exploiting the very communities it claims to uplift. Historically, this echoes patterns seen in other contexts, from Sicily’s Mafia to Mexico’s cartels, where cultural patronage serves as both a shield and a weapon.
Implications: For human agency, this dynamic limits accountability. The costs are borne by those exploited in Adilsinho’s cigarette factories or silenced by violence, while the benefits accrue to those who navigate the system’s rules. Second-order consequences include the erosion of trust in institutions, as Carnival’s legitimacy becomes entangled with criminal influence.
Bridge questions: What would it take to sever the ties between *bicheiros* and Carnival without dismantling the cultural fabric they support? How do communities reconcile the dual role of figures like Adilsinho as both benefactors and predators? Would reforming LIESA’s governance structure reduce corruption, or would it simply shift power to new actors?
Counterstrike scan: If this were a coordinated influence campaign, the playbook would emphasize the sensational—focusing on Adilsinho’s arrest as a triumph of justice while downplaying systemic complicity. The actual content avoids this, presenting a nuanced critique of power structures. No structural alignment with manipulation patterns detected.
Patterns detected: none