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Elias Maluco

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Elias Maluco
Elias Maluco being introduced by the police after his arrest in 2002
Born
Elias Pereira da Silva

(1966-05-23)23 May 1966
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Died22 September 2020(2020-09-22) (aged 54)
Catanduvas, Paraná, Brazil
OccupationDrug trafficker
Known forMurder of Tim Lopes

Elias Pereira da Silva (23 May 1966 – 22 September 2020), also known as Elias Maluco (in English: Crazy Elias), was one of Rio de Janeiro's most powerful drug traffickers. Maluco, a member of the criminal faction Comando Vermelho, commanded drug trafficking in thirty slums near Complexo do Alemão and Penha, Brazil. He was accused of killing over sixty people.[1]

Elias Maluco was held responsible for the waves of violence that shook Rio de Janeiro between December 2006 and November 2010.[2][3] He was arrested on 19 September 2002, after a three-month manhunt.[1][4][5]

Murder of Tim Lopes

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On 2 June 2002, journalist Tim Lopes was kidnapped by a group of drug dealers led by Elias[4] and was taken to the Favela da Grota slum in Complexo do Alemão. Lopes was tortured and killed[6] after being found with a camera which he was using for his reporting on sexual abuse of minors and drug trafficking in clubs in the Vila Cruzeiro favela.[7][8] According to testimonies from drug traffickers linked to Maluco, who was arrested a few days later by the police, Maluco had tortured Lopes by burning his eyes with a cigarette and hitting him with a katana,[6][7] and later burned his body with tires and gasoline[7] in a method of killing known among locals as a "microwave."[9] After intense searches, the charred remains of Lopes' body were found on 12 June 2002, in a clandestine cemetery in the Favela da Grota.[6]

The crime had international repercussions[10] and motivated demonstrations against violence and defense of press freedom in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil was named as the third most dangerous country for professionals in this field in the Americas by the Inter-American Press Association Impunity Commission (IAPA).[7]

Capture

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On 16 September 2002, after a three-month manhunt led by the Rio de Janeiro security summit,[4][6] the police launched "Operation Sufoco" and surrounded Complexo do Alemão with the aim to capture Maluco. After 50 hours of searching, Maluco was captured in Favela da Grota without resisting arrest.[8] His words, at the time of his arrest, were "I lost, man. Just don't humiliate me.", referring to the police's eagerness to arrest him.[1][5]

In December 2002, Elias Maluco was sentenced to 13 years in prison for trafficking crimes and association to drug trafficking, in a process involving the singer Belo.[11] On 10 November 2003, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the 23rd Criminal Court of Rio de Janeiro for the same crimes in the context of another process.[11] On 25 May 2005, he was sentenced to 28.5 years in prison by the 1st Rio de Janeiro Jury Tribunal for the crimes of triple-qualified homicide, conspiracy, and concealment of a body in the case of the murder of Tim Lopes.[4][12]

Maluco was imprisoned in a Brazilian prison complex following his arrest[12] until 4 January 2007, when he was transferred to the Federal Prison in Catanduvas, Paraná. He was transferred with eleven other heads of the criminal factions Comando Vermelho and Terceiro Comando, who were accused of arson and attacking police stations and military police posts on 28 December 2006, in Rio de Janeiro. These attacks resulted in the death of nineteen people.[2]

After the start of a new wave of violence in Rio de Janeiro on 21 November 2010, Maluco and one other, who according to police intelligence, had ordered the attacks, were transferred on 25 November 2010, to the Federal Penitentiary in Porto Velho, Rondônia.[3] Finally, on 18 August 2011, Maluco was transferred again, this time to the Federal Prison in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul.[13]

Death

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In the late afternoon hours of 22 September 2020, the Paraná Penitentiary Department (DEPEN) informed the press that Elias Maluco was found dead in his cell at the Catanduvas Federal Penitentiary.[4][8] According to the agency, Maluco's body showed signs of hanging. His death certificate confirmed the cause of death as mechanical choking by hanging.[14][15]

Police chief Daniel Martarelli da Costa, from the Federal Police of Brazil, responsible for the investigation, classified the case as a "classic suicide". In his cell, agents found letters left for his family.[15]

In the letters, he did not report the reason for the act. He basically said that he no longer had the will to live and asked his family for forgiveness, saying that it was not an act of cowardice, but rather of courage, that he felt ready for that. He didn’t report anything about threat or motivation.

— Daniel Martarelli da Costa about Elias Maluco’s letters[15]

Elias' death is surrounded by controversy: many believe that he killed himself, for having lost his leadership within the Comando Vermelho (a month before he died, he had a fallout with the leader of the criminal faction, Márcio dos Santos Nepomuceno (known as "Marcinho VP"), leading to him being demoted from the organization's hierarchy).[16]

Others, such as Elias' daughter Julia Fernandes, however, believe that he was killed in prison and that the alleged assassins made it look like he killed himself in his cell. A possible reason for his possible murder was the fact that he had argued and angered the gang leaders (like the aforementioned Marcinho VP, quoted above) a month before he was killed, which made the top echelon of the Comando Vermelho realize that Elias Maluco became a big problem for the gang, ordering his execution and thus disguising it as a suicide, thus eliminating someone they considered a dead weight for the criminal organization.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Elias Maluco é preso na Favela da Grota" [Elias Maluco is arrested in Favela da Grota]. Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). 19 September 2003. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Chefões vão para cadeia no Sul do País" [Big bosses go to jail in the south of the country]. O Dia (in Brazilian Portuguese). 5 January 2007. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013 – via Terra.
  3. ^ a b "Justiça autoriza transferência de mais 10 presos do RJ para o PR" [Court authorizes transfer of 10 more prisoners from RJ to PR]. Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). 26 November 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e Manfrin, Juliet (22 September 2020). "Elias Maluco morre na prisão de Catanduvas" [Elias Maluco dies in Catanduvas prison]. ABRAJI (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b Figueiredo, Talita; Escóssia, Fernanda da (20 September 2002). "Elias Maluco é preso após três dias de cerco" [Elias Maluco is arrested after three days of siege]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2 July 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d "2002 – Elias Maluco choca ao executar Tim Lopes" [2002 – Elias Maluco shocks when he executes Tim Lopes]. Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d "Há um ano Tim Lopes era executado por traficantes" [A year ago Tim Lopes was executed by drug traffickers]. Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2 June 2003. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Tajra, Alex; Costa, Flávio; Jozino, Josmar; Filho, Herculano Barreto (22 September 2020). "Traficante Elias Maluco é encontrado morto em presídio federal" [Drug dealer Elias Maluco is found dead in federal prison]. UOL (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Governo decide concretar gruta em favela no Rio" [Government decides to concrete a cave in a favela in Rio]. Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2 June 2003. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  10. ^ "Desaparecimento de jornalista da Globo gera preocupação internacional" [Disappearance of Globo journalist generates international concern]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 4 June 2002. Archived from the original on 22 July 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Elias Maluco é condenado a 18 anos de prisão" [Elias Maluco is sentenced to 18 years in prison]. Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  12. ^ a b "Elias Maluco pega 28 anos pela morte de Tim Lopes" [Elias Maluco gets 28 years for the death of Tim Lopes]. Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). 25 May 2005. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  13. ^ "Elias Maluco é transferido para presídio federal no MS" [Elias Maluco is transferred to federal prison in MS]. Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). 18 August 2011. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  14. ^ "Atestado de óbito de Elias Maluco aponta asfixia mecânica como causa da morte" [Elias Maluco's death certificate points to mechanical asphyxiation as the cause of death]. IstoÉ (in Brazilian Portuguese). 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  15. ^ a b c Filho, Herculano Barreto (23 September 2020). "Elias Maluco morreu por asfixia mecânica, diz atestado de óbito" [Elias Maluco died from mechanical asphyxiation, says death certificate]. UOL (in Brazilian Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Morte de 'Elias Maluco' pode ter sido motivada por saída do 'alto escalão' do 'CV'" [Death of 'Elias Maluco' may have been motivated by the departure of the 'highest level' from 'CV']. O São Gonçalo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020.
  17. ^ "Filha de Elias Maluco divulga carta e diz que pai não se suicidou: 'Mataram meu pai'" [Elias Maluco's daughter publishes letter and says her father didn't commit suicide: 'They killed my father']. O Dia (in Brazilian Portuguese). 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020.
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