Police Kill 17 in Two Operations Against Militias in Rio de Janeiro

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Within just 24 hours, Rio’s Civil Police killed at least 17 suspected members of the ‘Bonde do Ecko’, considered one of the country’s largest illegal militias, in two operations in municipalities of the Baixada Fluminense area bordering the city of Rio.

The second of these occurred on Thursday night, October 15th, in Itaguaí, leaving 12 suspects dead.

Among them were former State Police Officer Carlos Eduardo Benevides Gomes, known as Bené, one of the group’s leaders on Rio’s most wanted criminals list. Under surveillance for two weeks, the group had a freight convoy intercepted in Itaguaí and exchanged gunfire with the officers, according to police.

In a video now in the investigators’ hands, a former gang member disclosed to the Rio Prosecutor’s Office (MP-RJ) that in September 2018, Bené had been involved in the murder of two members of the racketeering group itself.

The Prosecutor’s Office indicted 44 suspected members of the group for participation in a criminal organization. Five months later, the collaborating witness’s corpse was found in the trunk of a car with gunshot wounds. After André Vitor de Souza Corrêa testified, he was marked for death by the gang, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

According to the report, Wellington da Silva Braga, a.k.a. Ecko, the militia leader, ordered Bené to kill two members of the criminal organization for allegedly using his name to extort money from residents in a federal program “Minha Casa Minha Vida” (My Home, My Life) condominium.

“Bené has already given his explanations, saying it was something for a man. He said Ecko had it taken care of. But Paulinho [the nickname of one of the victims] was still alive. And he shouted: ‘I swear on my children, it wasn’t me who stuck my hand in it’. Then Bené walked in with the AK-47 and shot him in the face. Then he told us to place the bodies in the trunk of the car. Then we drove to the clandestine cemetery,” said André Corrêa, in a recorded statement.

“Bené shot him about five times. The blood splattered on my face,” he added.

CRIME FRANCHISE

Bené headed a kind of “franchise” of the Bonde do Ecko in Itaguaí, one of the municipalities lying just outside the city of Rio de Janeiro, according to information obtained from the Civil Police and the MP-RJ.

Tandera, another militiaman mentioned by the witness found dead after testifying, is pointed out by the authorities as the second in rank in the group and directly responsible for the establishment of these franchises in the region.

According to sources linked to the police, he was with the group located by the Civil Police last Wednesday, October 14th, in an operation that caused the death of five other suspected members of the criminal organization in a shooting exchange in a region known as km 32, in Nova Iguaçu, also in Baixada Fluminense. But he managed to escape and is still on the run.

MONITORED GROUP

On Thursday night, a joint effort between the PRF (Federal Highway Police) and the Rio Civil Police intercepted a convoy of suspected members of the Itaguaí militia.

The group’s movement had been monitored for two weeks by the intelligence service of a task force to curb interference by criminal organizations in this year’s elections.

According to the police, the criminals opened fire as they saw the officers approaching, triggering a confrontation that involved CORE (tactical unit of the Civil Police) officers. One of the officers was shot, but was not seriously injured due to his bulletproof vest.

In addition to Bené, Émerson Benedito da Silva, a.k.a. Macumba, may also have been killed. He is pointed out by the authorities as one of Bené’s most trusted men. The other ten dead suspects have not yet been identified.

After the clash, police seized at least eight rifles, pistols, ammunition, chargers, communication devices and the four stolen or cloned cars that were part of the convoy. The officers also found that the suspects were wearing military uniforms, army boots, nightsticks, and vests.

Source: Folhapress