A councilor seeking re-election was arrested this Tuesday morning, the 17th, in a joint operation between the Public Ministry (MP) and the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police. He is suspected of planning the murder of a political opponent’s campaigner in Campos dos Goytacazes, north of Rio de Janeiro.
The alleged politician, Bruno Fernando Santos de Azevedo, known as Bruno Pezão (PP), participated in a video conference at a rally with a man who was arrested the day before the crime. The image was shown on the screen during the meeting with voters.
The video available on the candidate’s Instagram profile was attached to the investigation. The man seen in the video with the council member was arrested in 2010 and identified as a local drug trafficking leader.
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José Ricardo Rangel de Oliveira, known as Ricardinho, is serving his sentence at the Gericinó Penitentiary Complex, in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro. According to the investigation carried out by the MP and the Civil Police, the crime was politically motivated.
Election campaigner killed with 10 shots
Candidate Diego Dias (PDT), Bruno Pezão’s rival for a seat on the Campos dos Goytacazes City Council, did not receive the support of the criminal factions that dominate drug trafficking in the region for his campaign.
The victim, Aparecido Oliveira de Moraes, 59, was shot dead in his own car. He was hit by 10 shots in the ambush on July 19. Aparecido worked as an election campaigner for Dias.
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Investigators seized R$400,000 in cash from the house of the councilor arrested in the action. An automatic pistol of the same caliber as the weapon used in the crime, a charger and a mobile phone were also found at the scene.
Rio de Janeiro’s Civil Police identified Bruno Pezão as “the leader of a local criminal organization.” The council’s chief of staff and an adviser to the City Council are also under investigation.
The operation also seeks to find three other suspects involved in the crime that resulted in the death of a campaigner. The search and seizure warrants, which were also carried out at the politician’s campaign committee and at the Chamber, were issued by the First Criminal Court of Campos dos Goytacazes.
Read also: “Justice rejects candidacy registration of former Rio de Janeiro governor”
