Rio’s Most Wanted Trafficker, “Nem da Rocinha,” Arrested During Escape Attempt

Rocinha has been in the news since last week’s announcement that BOPE would invade the favela in preparation for installing a Police Pacification Unit. One of the largest slums in Latin America, with an estimated population of 100,000 people, Rocinha was the last unpacified stronghold of drug traffic in Rio’s South Zone. For the past six years, Rocinha has been controlled by Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, aka Nem, chief of the drug trafficking gang Amigos dos Amigos.

Rocinha

On Sunday it was reported that Nem checked into the public hospital in Rocinha after after mixing ecstasy and alcohol at his farewell party. The trafficker allegedly got on stage during the party and tearfully vowed to confront BOPE troops and resist the UPP.

Wanted poster showing widely circulated photo of Nem da Rocinha

Last night Nem was captured while attempting to escape Rocinha.

Translation of article “Traficante Nem, chefe do tráfico de drogas da Favela da Rocinha, é preso na Lagoa.” From O Globo, published November 10, 2011.

RIO – The trafficker Antônio Bonfim Lopes, aka Nem, chief of drug traffic in Rocinha, arrived today at the Gericinó Penitentiary Complex, in Rio’s West Zone. The trafficker Nem, along with other bandits arrested on Wednesday night in the Rocinha area, were taken to the prison in a police convoy on the city’s main expressways.

Nem was transferred to Gericinó, better known as the Complexo de Bangu, in the early afternoon on Thursday. The trafficker was held for more than nine hours in the Federal Police (PF) headquarters, in Praça Mauá, where he gave a deposition. Because of the police operation, one lane of Avenida Rodrigues Alves was blocked off.

The trafficker was arrested late Wednesday night by Shock Battalion and Military Police (PM) officers, in from of Clube Piraquê in Lagoa. According to the police, he was found in the trunk of a black Corolla; three men in the car were also arrested. One of them introduced himself as an official from the consulate of the Republic of Congo; the second claimed to be an honorary consul of that country; the third, a lawyer. The embassies of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Brasilia, denied having an honorary consul in Rio.

This Thursday the governor of Rio, Sérgio Cabral, announced that he would ask the Ministry of Justice to transfer Nem and the other traffickers to federal prisons, during an interview with Rádio CBN. He stated that the documentation was already being prepared to send them to maximum security facilities outside the state. The governor also praised the capture of the trafficker.

“This was the result of a partnership between the armed forces and the Federal, Civil, and Military Police. The work that is being done in Rio to take back this territory is very important. Rocinha and Vidigal are two very symbolic and well-loved communities. They are in a privileged location, but they have been growing without any structure. This is a very happy day for all of us,” declared Cabral.

Rio’s Security Secretary, José Mariano Beltrame, stated in an interview with Bom Dia Rio that the arrest of powerful drug traffickers is fundamental, as is the seizure of arms and drugs.

“The strategy that’s being used is to break apart the empire, to break down the wall created by weapons, and to break that place, that impregnable island of violence,” Beltrame affirmed.

The secretary said that there is still no foolproof recipe for peace, and declined to confirm whether Rocinha’s occupation by a UPP would begin this Sunday:

“We’re preparing to enter without a confrontation, but we don’t know what the criminals have in mind. In Rocinha, a combined operation started a few days ago, and we still have to process some information to determine when it will be feasible to enter.”

In an interview with Bom Dia Rio, of TV Globo, Federal Police delegate Victor Poubel said that Nem called his mother as soon as he was arrested and made a few requests; among them, to make sure his children don’t miss school.

Nem’s accomplices offered police R$1 million to let them go

Shock Battalion officers initially stopped the car transporting Nem on its way out of Rocinha, but the alleged consular official claimed diplomatic immunity and refused to open the trunk. He affirmed that he would only allow the vehicle to be searched in a Federal Police station. The Military Police then followed the car towards a station. Near Piraquê, however, the car stopped and one of the men offered the police a bribe to let them go. The Federal Police were called because the lawyer claimed the consulate’s protection. The Corolla was searched and Nem found.

Heitor, a soldier with the Shock Battalion who participated in the arrest, recounted on Thursday morning that the lawyer first offered a R$20 thousand bribe to let the group go. When the police refused, they increased the value to R$1 million. Heitor said that all cars were being searched by order of the PM, and that the Corolla caught police attention because of the late hour and the invocation of consular authority.

“I feel proud of this victory,” said the policeman.

Corporal Eduardo Teixeira, of the Shock Battalion, who was also part of the capture in Lagoa, confirmed that the supposed consulate official offered a bribe.

“When the trunk was opened, Nem saw that he had lost, and showed no reaction,” said Teixeira.

Military Police commander Colonel Erir Ribeiro da Costa Filho went to the Federal Police headquarters and said that Rocinha’s traffickers are feeling cornered:

“They are trying to flee the favela. We will continue searching everyone on the outskirts of the community.”

On returning to PF headquarters, Military Police officers celebrated the arrest.

Nem was the target of the police siege of the favela. The PM had reinforced their patrols of entrances to Rocinha and Vidigal; they also patrolled the South Zone and searched corporate vehicles. BOPE agents occupied Vista Chinesa, one of the possible escape routes from Rocinha.

Early in the night, ten people, among them policemen and traffickers, were arrested during a PF operation. Five civil and military agents escorted traffickers attempting to escape Rocinha. The group’s four cars were intercepted by the PF in front of Gávea Shopping and Jockey Club, in Rio’s South Zone. One of the arrested traffickers was Anderson Rosa Mendonça, known as Coelho (“Rabbit”), Nem’s right-hand man and chief of Morro de São Carlos. Arms, grenades, and drugs were found in the cars and taken to PF headquarters in Praça da Bandeira. According to a Civil Police sources, the traffickers had negotiated a payment of R$2 million for the police escort out of the favela. Using a wiretap authorized by the Ministry of Justice, federal agents caught police in conversation with traffickers.

Among the arrests, according to the PF, were three Civil Police officers: two from the Delegation of Robbery and Theft (DRFC), Carlos Renato Rodrigues Tenório and Wagner de Souza Neves, and one from the Delegation of Crimes against Public Health (DRCCSP), Carlos Ferreira Dias. The group also contained two ex-PMs, José Faustino Silva and Flávio Melo dos Santos, according to a statement made by the PM. The other five were traffickers.

In addition to Coelho, two other high-ranking traffickers from Morro de São Carlos, in Estació, were arrested on Wedneday night. Sandro Luiz de Paula Amorim, aka Lindinho or Peixe (“Pretty Boy” or “Fish”), sought shelter in Rocinha after his stronghold was occupied by a UPP. He was also charged with taking command of the favelas in Macaé, after the death of the trafficker Roupinol in 2010. The other three traffickers were Paulo Roberto Lima da Luz, known as Paulinho; Varquia García dos Santos, known as Carré; and Sandro Oliveiro.

Police confiscated three rifles, ten pistols, five grenades, twenty chargers, gold jewelry, and an as-yet undisclosed amount of reals and euros.

According to the Tribunal of Justice, the PF requested aid from the Criminal Executions Court to monitor one of the group members who was taken prisoner. The PF knew that the man, a fugitive from the criminal justice system, was wearing an electronic ankle bracelet, allowing them to locate the group.