Senator Alessandro Vieira (MDB-SE) presented the report for Bill 5,582 of 2025, which establishes the new Legal Framework for Combating Organized Crime. The document increases penalties for members of these organizations and even authorizes recording conversations between inmates and lawyers suspected of participating in criminal activities.
The text combines proposals submitted by President Lula’s administration and by the Chamber of Deputies, and adds a series of unprecedented measures, such as the creation of a CIDE on betting operators, the use of intrusion software in investigations, new protection rules for jurors, and tougher penalties for crimes committed with weapons of war.
Proposed by the government in October, the Anti-Faction Bill was approved in the Chamber of Deputies in November. The expectation was that the vote in the Senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee would take place this Wednesday (3), but the vote was postponed. If approved without changes in the Senate, the text will move to Lula’s desk for sanction.
According to the document, the final text proposes, among other points, creating a tax on betting operators to raise funds to fight crime. The expectation is to generate R$ 30 billion (US$5.6bn) per year. The money will go to the National Public Security Fund (FNSP), which will now include greater participation from the states.
According to Alessandro Vieira, the resources from the ‘Bets’ fund will be managed by the states and the federal government. “This National Congress will enable the necessary funding,” he said, according to a transcript from Agência Senado.
The Central Bank revealed that betting companies received R$ 90 billion (US$18.9bn) from bettors in the first quarter of 2025, which averages R$ 30 billion (US$5.6bn) per month. On Tuesday, the Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) approved an increase in the tax on betting operators from the current 12% to 18%.
The processing of the Anti-Faction Bill generated clashes between the government and the opposition in the Chamber of Deputies. Presented by the government in October, the project was assigned to federal deputy Guilherme Derrite (PL-SP) — then Public Security Secretary under Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos), a potential challenger to Lula in 2026 — as rapporteur, chosen by the Speaker of the House, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB).
Derrite presented six versions of the text. The final version submitted did not explicitly mention criminal factions, introduced the definition of “ultraviolent criminal organizations,” and, in the Lula administration’s view, financially suffocated the Federal Police. Vieira’s Senate version changes these and other points.
The rapporteur also states that, in the Chamber, the discussion on public security funding “ended up being distorted” and dealt with amounts far lower than what is expected to be raised through the new contribution on betting operators.
Source: GMB
