Two men suspected of involvement in a plot to kidnap a prominent Brazilian judge were killed in prison.
Janeferson Aparecido Mariano Gomes, known as Nefo, and Reginaldo Oliveira de Sousa, known as Rê, were murdered by fellow inmates while in pre-trial detention in a São Paulo state prison.
Arrested last year in a police operation called Henchman, the two were implicated in a plan to kidnap high-ranking public figures for ransom, including Senator Sergio Moro. Moro, a former public prosecutor, led the extensive corruption investigation known as Operation Car Wash.
Both Nefo and Rê, aged 48, were attacked during a “sunbathing break” inside the prison compound, CNN Brasil reported. Nefo was stabbed to death in the toilets, while Rê was killed in the courtyard.
Three inmates confessed to the crime, claiming it was a “settling of scores.” All individuals involved, including the victims and their attackers, are suspected members of the First Capital Command (PCC), Brazil’s most powerful criminal organization.
According to the Brazilian news site UOL, the order to kill Nefo and Rê likely came from “high up” in the PCC due to their alleged excessive disclosures. The two men were detained in March 2023 after police uncovered the PCC’s plan to kidnap Sergio Moro. Officials believe Moro was targeted because, as Brazil’s justice and security minister, he had ordered the transfer of high-ranking gang members from smaller, gang-controlled penitentiaries to maximum-security prisons.
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