RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s federal police say one of the country’s most sensible criminal leaders turned himself in Sunday after negotiations with local authorities.
Luiz Antonio da Silva Braga, known as Zinho, is the ideal leader of the largest defense force in the state of Rio de Janeiro. There are 12 arrest warrants issued against him, federal police said.
“After procedures similar to his detention, the detainee was subjected to forensic examination and then sent to the state penitentiary system, where he will be at the disposal of our courts,” the federal police said.
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Militias emerged in the 1990s when they originally were made up mainly of former police officers, firefighters and soldiers who wanted to combat lawlessness in their neighborhoods. They charged residents for protection and other services, and more recently moved into drug trafficking themselves.
Zinho’s organization dominates Rio’s western region, where several members of his gang have been killed in years. He had been on the run since 2018.
Ricardo Cappelli, executive secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, said on social media that federal police had conducted several investigations leading up to Zinho.
“It’s work, work, work,” Capelli said.
Zinho’s attorney responded to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Militias reportedly occupy about 10% of Rio’s metropolitan area, according to a study last year by the nonprofit Fogo Cruzado and a security-focused think tank at the Federal University of Fluminense. These militias stand out from the drug gangs that dominate Rio’s giant spaces.
The domain ruled by Zinho’s organization made headlines in October when gang members set fire to at least 35 buses in retaliation for the police killing of one of their leaders. The attack took place far from Rio’s tourist districts and caused no casualties, but underscored the militias’ ability to wreak havoc and inflict damage.
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