Brazil’s biggest drug trafficker released from prison after two prisoners escaped

The legendary Fernandinho Beira Mar, considered the largest drug trafficker in the history of Brazil, was secretly transferred from the high security federal prison of Mossoro, located in the interior of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in the northeast of the country, to the Federal prison of Catanduvas, in the state Paraná, in the south, also with maximum security, 3573 km. The handover of Beira Mar, sentenced to hundreds of years in prison and the main leader of the Comando Vermelho criminal gang, created decades ago in Rio de Janeiro but which today operates throughout Brazil and even in other countries, was carried out on Saturday. but he was not released until this Monday, and this was after the unfortunate escape of two other prisoners from a prison which was considered completely escape-proof.

The handover of Fernandinho Beira Mara, whose real name is Luis Fernando da Costa, prompted a massive security operation involving special agents from several federal security forces, armored vehicles, helicopters and airplanes. Despite spending many years in prison, Beira Mar is still considered a criminal with absurd power both inside and outside the Brazilian prison system, and the Vermelho team, which has always been one of the largest criminal organizations in Brazil, has grown in recent years even more so and competes for leadership in organized crime with rival PCC, Primeiro Comando da Capital from São Paulo.

In addition to the historical leader of the CV, another 22 criminals associated with this faction, who were also imprisoned in Mossoro, were also brought to Catanduvas between Saturday, Sunday and this Monday morning. Sources in the police and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security said this Monday that the transfers were a routine action that had been planned for a long time, but in fact in public security circles they say that it was motivated by the recent escape of two prisoners from a prison that was considered escape-proof and from which the two prisoners left the prison with ease.

On 14 February, Deibson do Nascimento and Rogerio Mendonça, also from Comando Vermelho, who were confined in separate cells and, at least in theory, had no contact with each other, excavated the walls of their cells, tearing out the iron beams. hole in the ceiling, taking advantage of the limited space where the power lines are, walked through the roof of the huge prison, crossed the courtyards and walls and finally gained freedom by making a hole in the fence with construction pliers. The metal surrounding the chain. And all this without detection by the alarm systems that should warn of their movement, without detection by more than 200 CCTV cameras, and even more so by the guards who should be on observation towers.

Their escape was not discovered until many hours later, and to this day they remain uncaptured despite a mammoth manhunt by more than 600 local, state and federal agents, supported by helicopters, drones and tracking dogs. .

Fernandinho Beira-Mar was recently transferred to Mossoro and was supposed to remain in this federal prison, where there are two guards for every prisoner and where conditions for prisoners are or should be very strict, but the federal government seems unwilling to make any the risk after two prisoners escape is much less important than the top leader of the organization. Mainly because the investigations, which have so far failed to reveal collusion by any prison official, have instead revealed glaring errors and incompetence, such as several guards not being at their posts, perhaps because it is Ash Wednesday and the rhythm of carnival. , the presence of countless instruments scattered throughout the prison due to ongoing renovation work, the poor quality of CCTV cameras that essentially do not allow anyone to be identified and only show numbers, and, completing the series of negligence, the non-functioning of powerful lighting towers that were turned off from -due to the fact that many light bulbs burned out and no one bothered to change them.