Rio de Janeiro - Provincial legislator and former Rio de Janeiro civilian police boss Alvaro Lins was arrested Thursday by Brazilian federal police on charges of money laundering, bribery and support for smuggling.

Former Rio governor Anthony Garotinho (1999-2002) is also implicated in the investigation. The federal police said Garotinho was charged with forming an armed gang, although the public prosecutor's office did not confirm this.

The authorities said that Lins was one of 16 people wanted in an investigation of clandestine gambling in Rio under the 2003-2006 governorships of Garotinho and his wife, Rosinha Matheus.

The investigation was launched in 2006 and led the authorities to close 28 bingo businesses and to seize 4,800 clandestine slot machines that had been smuggled into Brazil.