Empty guardhouses and lack of staff; Report points out flaws during the escape of “Jean do 18”

A report sent by Seap to the Rio de Janeiro Penal Execution Court (VEP) and, obtained by CNN points out that most of the watchtowers at the Lemos de Brito Prison were empty at dawn when the drug dealer “Jean do 18” fled with two other accomplices.

According to the document, of the unit’s seven watchtowers, four were without the presence of criminal police officers. Two of them on the outside of the prison, where the inmates escaped using a rope made from sheets.

In response to the judiciary, Seap also revealed that on the day of the escape, of the eleven jobs, only five were covered and that there were only six servers working on the review of prisoners.

In a recent statement, the Union of Criminal Police Officers of Rio denounced that only 5 servants took care of more than 770 inmates at the Lemos de Brito Penitentiary.

Among the questions, the VEP also wanted to know why the monitoring cameras did not work and if there was a power outage. On the subject, Seap stated that the lack of energy and the inoperability of the cameras were not recorded in the occurrence book.

The secretariat also informed that it opened an investigation to determine the facts, that it transferred 22 prisoners and that it suspended visits to the prison so that the bars could be repaired, in addition to a thorough inspection of the penitentiary.

The report was signed by the secretary of Penitentiary Administration in Rio, Maria Rosa Nebel, as determined by Judge Bruno Rulière, of the Criminal Execution Court, who gave 48 hours to receive information about the escape.

The scape

In the early hours of Sunday (29), prisoners Jean Carlos Nascimento dos Santos, known as ‘Jean do 18’, Lucas Apostolico and Marcelo Almeida, fled Lemos de Brito Penitentiary, in the Gericinó Complex, in Bangu, in the west zone of Rio.

The three escaped after sawing through the penitentiary bars and managing to escape through the back of the prison using a ladder made of sheets and pieces of wood.

According to the police, “Jean do 18” is identified as one of the most dangerous and violent drug dealers in the state.

The criminal headed the drug trade on Morro do 18, in Água Santa, in the north of Rio.

His criminal record includes an attempt to invade the Bangu forum in 2013. The drug dealer’s objective was to execute a judge and rescue criminals who would give testimony. During the action, a child and a PM ended up dying.

In 2016, Jean do 18 was indicted for killing his own lawyer, identified as Roberto Rodrigues. The reason: he was unable to free two of the drug dealer’s accomplices who were under arrest.