Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos was arrested in an intercontinental sting procedure in Maputo (file graphic)
1 of Brazil’s most required criminals has been arrested in Mozambique soon after spending extra than two decades on the run, officials say.
Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos, acknowledged as Fuminho, is accused of jogging drug trafficking operations for 1 of Brazil’s most highly effective gangs.
The 49-yr-outdated was arrested in Mozambique’s cash, Maputo, on Monday in an international sting procedure.
It was carried out by Interpol, US drug officials and Brazilian federal law enforcement.
Fuminho, an alleged chief of the São Paulo-primarily based First Capital Command (PCC) drug gang, is accused of shipping tonnes of cocaine close to the planet.
“The prisoner was deemed the largest supplier of cocaine to a gang working during Brazil, as perfectly as staying accountable for sending tonnes of the drug to various nations around the world,” a assertion from the Brazilian law enforcement mentioned.
Fuminho was arrested at the Montebelo Indy, a luxury hotel in Maputo, alongside with two Nigerians, officials in Mozambique mentioned.
He arrived in the southern African nation in mid-March, law enforcement spokesman Leonardo Simbine advised reporters on Tuesday.
“We are continue to investigating irrespective of whether there are other gang associates in Mozambique,” he additional. “He does not function on your own, he is portion of a gang.”
Police seized a pretend Brazilian passport, a quantity of hashish, extra than a dozen mobile telephones and a automobile throughout the procedure.
Fuminho was also accused of allegedly funding a plot to free the PCC’s chief, Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, from jail.
Camacho, who is acknowledged as Marcola, is serving a sentence of extra than 200 years in a maximum-security federal jail in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia.
It is not nevertheless apparent whether Fuminho will be extradited to Brazil to face demo.
The PCC is believed to be the country’s premier and most potent drug gang.
It has been at war with the Rio de Janeiro-primarily based Comando Vermelho (Red Command) considering the fact that 2016, when they finished an uneasy doing the job marriage right after the PCC moved to infiltrate drug smuggling routes managed by Comando Vermelho.
The feud has spread to prisons across the nation in which members of the rival gangs are held.
