RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Former Police Captain Adriano da Nóbrega, accused of commanding the oldest militia in Rio de Janeiro, was located and killed in the early hours of this Sunday, February 9th, in Bahia.
According to police, he was the head of the Escritório do Crime (“Crime Bureau”), a group of hired hitmen suspected of having taken part in the murders of city councilor Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes.
The ex-PM, who has been on the run for over a year, is named in the investigation into the practice of salary “splitting” in the former office of Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in the ALERJ (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro).
According to the Secretariat of Public Safety of Bahia, Adriano fired a gun when found and, in the gunfight, was wounded. According to government information, he was rushed to a hospital in the region, but he did not survive his wounds.
Adriano da Nóbrega had been removed from the country’s most wanted criminals list by Justice Minister Sérgio Moro in late January 2020.
The list was released by Moro on Twitter, who mentioned “technical criteria,” following guidelines from Jair Bolsonaro, to prepare the list of the most wanted criminals in Brazil.
According to investigations by the Prosecutor’s Office, Adriano was a friend of ex-PM Fabrício Queiroz, a former employee in Flávio Bolsonaro’s office. Adriano’s wife and mother, Danielle Mendonça da Costa da Nóbrega and Raimunda Veras Magalhães, worked in Flavio’s office.
In addition, Adriano was honored by ALERJ in 2003, while Flávio Bolsonaro was still a state deputy.
The prosecutors suspect that Adriano was a silent partner in two pizza restaurants, suspected of having laundered money for ex-PM Queiroz. Adriano does not figure as a shareholder in the companies. His mother, Raimunda, is a nominal shareholder.
The prosecutors are investigating whether a R$202,000 withdrawal from Danielle and Raimunda’s accounts was handed over to Fabrício Queiroz, thus erasing any trace of transfers.