The most wanted drug kingpin in Rio’s largest slum was caught hiding in the trunk of a car as dozens of crack police tighten their noose ahead of an imminent assault to take control of the Rocinha favela.
Antonio Bonfim Lopes — also known as “Nem” and considered one of the city’s most wanted criminals — was arrested on Thursday night as he tried to flee the shantytown which had been controlled by narcotraffickers for the past 30 years.
Nem’s dramatic arrest, repeatedly aired on television stations on Thursday, came as police special forces geared for an assault to pacify Rocinha, Brazil’s biggest favela.
Photo: Reuters
Rio has one of the highest murder rates in the country and the crackdown on the Rocinha drug gangs is part of an official campaign since 2008 to restore security in the city before the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, which Brazil are scheduled to host.
Rio State Governor Sergio Cabral, in a television interview on Thursday, hailed Nem’s capture as “another major step to bring peace to residents of Rocinha and Vidigal” and said the drive to pacify the two favelas would be completed “by the end of the week.”
Giving details of the overnight operation, Poubel said special forces agents who set up a roadblock on one of the access roads leading to Rocinha grew suspicious when they spotted a low-riding car and thought it was carrying a heavy load.
“One of three occupants of the vehicle identified himself as the honorary consul of Congo and refused to have the car searched,” citing “his diplomatic immunity,” the official said.
The embassies of both the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo both denied having honorary consuls in Rio, according to the government media agency.
As the vehicle was being driven to the federal police headquarters, the occupants tried to bribe their way out by offering the police agents US$569,000 which they were carrying in a suitcase, the official added. Corruption is rife in the Rio police force.
“Police reinforcements were called and the vehicle was searched — Nem was in the trunk. He came out with his hands up in the air,” Poubel said.
At police headquarters, the drug kingpin was allowed to call his mother and he asked her to ensure his children go to school.
“He has seven children, including two adopted ones, from three different women and said he would resume a normal life once out of jail,” Poubel said.
Television footage later showed Nem being transferred from the federal police headquarters to the Bangu maximum security jail near Rio.
Brazilian radio stations said Nem used to be a model employee of a telecoms company who “stumbled” into organized crime after getting a loan from a former Rocinha drug baron to pay for medical care for one of his daughters.
To pay back his debts, he reportedly began dealing drugs and later took over as chief of the gang which controls Rocinha, which is home to 120,000 people.
Also captured in a separate police operation were 14 people, including five policemen who were escorting five Nem lieutenants, notably his right-hand man known as “Coelho,” Poubel said.
Poubel said the assault on Rocinha was “imminent” and local media reported it would be launched this weekend. The Globo News television channel reported that the air space over the region would be closed from Sunday at dawn.
Rocinha, built on a steep hillside overlooking the “Marvelous City” and located between two wealthy neighborhoods, is set to become the 19th favela to be cleared of traffickers.
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