Transferred from the federal prison in Mossoró, Luiz Fernando da Costa, 56 years old, better known as Fernandinho Beira-Mar, is considered one of the main leaders of the Rio de Janeiro criminal organization Comando Vermelho and has convictions for drug trafficking, homicides and other crimes that accumulated more than 300 years in prison.
Beira-Mar rose to organized crime as one of the main names in Comando Vermelho after establishing a vast drug distribution network in Rio de Janeiro and starting to control several points of sale in Rio's hills in the early 1990s.
Sentenced to 12 years for drug trafficking in the early 90s, Beira-Mar remained on the run until 1996, when he was captured in Belo Horizonte with four kilos of cocaine. At the time, he was sentenced to another 12 years in prison for drug trafficking. In 1997, he managed to escape from prison under unclear circumstances.
Two years later, in 1999, the drug trafficker allegedly ordered the death of a man for an alleged romantic relationship with an ex-lover of his. In audios attributed to Beira-Mar, the victim who was murdered, reports that she was tortured and forced to swallow her own ear. For the crime, the court sentenced the drug trafficker to more than 30 years, for triple homicide.
After spending six years on the run and living in Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Colombia, according to documents from the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), Beira-Mar had a relationship with members of the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and became a weapons supplier for the guerrilla group.
International arrests, convictions and transfers
The drug trafficker's freedom ended in 2001, after the creation of a Task Force that managed to capture him in a jungle region in Colombia. After being arrested, Beira-Mar denied any relationship with the FARC and said he lived like a peasant in the region.
In 2002, Beira-Mar was again sentenced to another 120 years in prison for allegedly ordering the death of drug traffickers Ernaldo Pinto Medeiros (Uê), Carlos Alberto da Costa (Robertinho do Adeus), Wanderlei Soares (Orelha) and Elpídio Rodrigues Sabino (Pidi ), who were said to be from a rival faction, during the rebellion at the Bangu 1 prison.
Considered one of the most dangerous prisoners in Brazil, the drug trafficker opened the Catanduvas prison in 2006, when the maximum security model under federal management was created.
Transferred last Saturday (2) to the same prison that opened almost 20 years ago, Beira-Mar was conducted “with the purpose of guaranteeing the weakening of organized crime leaders”, according to the Ministry of Justice in a note (see the full text below).
The Justice Department denies that the transfer is related to the first record of escapes from federal prisons, recorded on January 14, when inmates Deibson Cabral Nascimento (33) and Rogério da Silva Mendonça (35) escaped from prison. Almost three weeks after their escape, both have still not been captured.
Note Ministry of Justice and Public Security
Brasília, 03/04/2023 – The National Secretariat for Penal Policies (Senappen), through the Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary System (DISPF), carried out, between the 1st and 3rd of March, the periodic rotation of 23 prisoners between the Penitentiaries Federal authorities, with the aim of ensuring the weakening of organized crime leaders.
It should be noted that the relocation of prisoners within the scope of the Federal Penitentiary System is an important measure for its perfect functioning, as it aims to prevent the articulation of criminal organizations within maximum security establishments, in addition to weakening and complicating links in the regions where the Federal Penitentiaries are located. .
It is important to highlight that the movement of inmates is part of the units' routine and, for security reasons, Senappen does not inform the location of inmates, nor details of these operations.
Source: CNN Brasil
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