On Tuesday, February 20, the National Forces (FN) will send 100 soldiers and 20 vehicles to the Mossoro region, in the interior of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, to reinforce the more than 500 police officers who have been working since Wednesday until last Friday. tracked down two criminals who had escaped from a maximum security federal prison located on the outskirts of this city.
The delivery was authorized by Brazil’s new Minister of Justice and Public Security, former Federal Supreme Court judge Ricardo Lewandowski, who had been in office for only 20 days.
With the arrival of the National Forces, a squad made up of soldiers from elite military police groups from several Brazilian states, the number of personnel involved in the hunt for the two fugitives will exceed 600 police officers.
The searches, which began on Tuesday for the seventh day and in which FN agents will participate as of Wednesday, involve agents of the Federal Police, the Federal Traffic Police, the Military Police and the Judicial Police of Rio Grande do Sul Norte and also agents of the Rapid Response Unit of the National Department of Penitentiary Institutions specialized in capturing fugitives.
Rogerio Mendonça and Deibson Nascimento escaped with great ease early Wednesday morning from what was considered an escape-proof prison, and just a few hours later their escape was discovered despite the fact that the prison, one of five run by the federal government, six security barriers, hundreds of CCTV cameras and twice as many guards as prisoners.
The two fugitives, each still facing nearly 70 years for drug trafficking, robbery and murder, managed to scratch the wall of their separate cells, pull out the iron reinforcement supporting the thick wall and use it to make a hole. on the ceiling and crossed the entire prison through the roof until they reached the outer bars, which they cut with industrial pliers that had been left loose, either intentionally or through negligence, during work carried out in this prison.
The escape of two criminals linked to the Comando Vermelho faction, created decades ago in Rio de Janeiro but which today operates throughout Brazil, has seriously damaged the image of federal prisons created by current President Lula da Silva in one of his previous governments. .., two decades ago, and from which no one has yet escaped.
Even with the help of hundreds of agents, supported by helicopters, drones and tracking dogs, a week after the escape, the police still had not been able to catch the fugitives, who had already broken into two houses in the countryside, eaten, changed clothes and made a point of watching the news to find out what they say about them.
Author: Domingos Grilo Serrinha This correspondent in Brazil
Source: CM Jornal
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