Lucas Alexandre Flaneto de Queiroz, known online as Zé Carioca and Joseph The Parrot, is a Brazilian firearms designer, entrepreneur, and privacy advocate currently detained following Operação Shadowgun, a March 2026 federal operation that targeted his legally registered company, Potentia Pesquisa Bélica LTDA.

Lucas is no stranger to the privacy and human rights community. He was a speaker at Monerokon 2025 in Prague, Czechia where he presented on the intersection of financial privacy, personal sovereignty, and the right to self-defense. His work has always sat at the crossroads of two fundamental beliefs: that privacy is a human right, and that the ability to defend oneself is inseparable from human dignity. He has dedicated his career to developing technologies that put self-defense capability into the hands of ordinary people — a right that should not be contingent on wealth, geography, or government permission.

Potentia Pesquisa Bélica LTDA, his legally registered and Army-authorized company, is the institutional expression of that mission. It was preparing to exhibit at Shot Fair, Brazil's premier firearms industry event, and had drawn praise from São Paulo lawmakers. This is not a criminal enterprise — it is a legitimate, growing business built on the conviction that self-defense is a universal human right.

*The charges don't hold up*

The core allegation — illegal arms trade — rests on the online sale of firearm magazines. Magazines were declassified as Army-controlled products in 2021 by presidential decree, and in 2022 the Army publicly confirmed they may be sold freely by manufacturers. No special permit is required. 

The prosecution's buyer list, assembled to imply a criminal network, mixes the small number of individuals with criminal records together with licensed gun owners, law-abiding citizens, a police officer, and even deceased individuals.

The money laundering charge lacks any concrete evidence. Prosecutors point to cryptocurrency donations Lucas received for his Urutau project, yet offer no proof that funds were misused. 

Their primary grievance appears to be that Lucas used Monero — a legal, privacy-focused currency — and they cannot see every transaction. This is not evidence of wrongdoing; it is an admission that they lack it. That a speaker at Monerokon would use Monero for legitimate transactions should surprise no one.

The criminal organization charge requires a minimum of four members. To meet this threshold, prosecutors swept in five individuals — mostly young university students, many living in different cities — on the basis of recording a podcast together, being Steam friends, or living in the same city. 

One piece of evidence submitted by the Ministry of Justice was later shown to be a doctored photo: an airsoft rifle with its orange safety tip removed to make it appear to be a real firearm. 

Lucas has not been convicted of anything. He is being held while his legal team works to dismantle a case built on deregulated products, speculative financial claims, and manufactured associations. 

Self-defense is a fundamental human right. Privacy is a fundamental human right. Lucas has spent his career defending both. Now he needs the community to defend him.

Every contribution helps and goes directly to his family. Share this page with anyone who believes in the fundamental human rights to privacy and self defense.

Stay up to date with the latest developments at https://zecarioca.cgic.ai/ Our community run OSINT archive and case documentation portal for Operação Shadowgun. It aggregates court documents, dockets, registries, custody tracking, legal chronologies, in depth evidence analysis, social media records, video/article archives, and source libraries related to the case. It also provides tools for legal request templates for both Brazil and USA jurisdictions, a file upload portal for crowdsourced document submissions and all verified methods for donating to the legal defense. We encourage you to utilize this comprehensive resource to explore the details of the case for yourself from source materials and understand exactly why it is necessary to support The Parrot's legal defense.

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