Militiaman appointed as one of Zinho's successors is shot dead in RJ

One of the possible successors of militia member Luís Antônio da Silva Braga, Zinho, was killed in the Três Pontes community, in Paciência, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, this Friday morning (29). According to the Military Police, Antônio Carlos dos Santos Pinto, Pit, aged 44, was shot dead in a car.

The Capital Homicide Police took over the investigation. Investigations are underway to determine the authorship and motivation of the crime.

During this morning's action, military police officers also found a five-year-old child with gunshot wounds. She was taken to Pedro II Municipal Hospital, in Santa Cruz. The Civil Police also confirm two more injured people, taken to hospitals in the region. Police are reinforced in the area.

The dispute over control of the militia in the region was already expected, since Zinho handed himself in to the Federal Police and was arrested on Sunday (24). He has already been sent to a maximum security prison.

Zinho Prison

On Sunday afternoon, the 24th, in Rio de Janeiro, the Federal Police (PF) arrested Luís Antônio da Silva Braga, known as Zinho, considered the most wanted militia member in the State. He had been on the run since 2018 and, according to the PF, has 12 arrest warrants.

According to the institution, the arrest was formalized “after negotiations between the militia member's patrons and the PF and the Public Security Secretariat of the State of Rio de Janeiro”. Zinho presented himself at the Drug Repression Police Station (DRE) and the PF Sensitive Investigations and Criminal Factions Group (GISE), at the PF Regional Superintendence.

Still according to the Federal Police, after the usual procedures, Zinho was taken to the Legal Medical Institute (IML) to undergo a forensic examination – something also standard in prisons – and was sent to the State's prison system, where he remains at the disposal of the Justice Department. . The location, however, was not disclosed.

At the head of the militia that most dominates areas in the West Zone of Rio, Luís Antônio da Silva Braga, known as Zinho, rose to the position of head of the largest militia in the state of Rio just over a year ago, with the death of his brother Wellington da Silva Braga, Ecko. The militiaman, who was one of those responsible for expanding the group's domain, was killed by the police on June 12 last year, in the community of Três Pontes, in Paciência, one of the strongholds of power.

Last Tuesday (19), Operation Dinastia, launched by the PF, carried out 17 arrest warrants against members of the so-called “Zinho militia”. The previous day, warrants were served against deputy Lucia Helena Pinto de Barros, known as Lucinha (PSD). Messages intercepted by the PF indicate that the parliamentarian is called “godmother” by the group and would act as a lobbyist in favor of actions against the group. The court ordered her removal from office.