Zinho, the most wanted militant in Rio de Janeiro who surrendered to the police on Christmas Eve

While Rio de Janeiro was finalizing the details of Christmas dinner, the most wanted man in the city crossed the empty streets and knocked on the doors of the Federal Police headquarters, accompanied by his lawyer. Luis Antônio da Silva Braga, better known as “Zinho,” a feared militiaman who had been wanted by the justice system for five months and faced 12 arrest warrants, turned himself in on Christmas Eve.

His supporters had been negotiating the surrender for several days, but his appearance at the central police station of the Federal Police, in the heart of Rio, caught everyone by surprise. After the usual bureaucracy, the officers quickly set up a special unit with 50 men who transported him 21 miles north, to a maximum security prison in Bangu, on the outskirts of the city. From a cell measuring six square meters, where he has no contact with other prisoners, Zinho will face interrogations that could be decisive in eroding the power of the Rio militias.

The militias are mafia groups initially formed by retired police officers, soldiers or firefighters who promised security and a hard-line approach to crime to the residents of the peripheral neighborhoods. In exchange, they carried out and continue to carry out all types of extortion, threats and abusive charges for services, from gas to cable television. Investigations into Zinho indicate that his militia charged “security fees” to all construction companies that wanted to place a brick in the neighborhoods of Campo Grande and Santa Cruz, the fiefdoms of his group. The City Council’s public works were no exception.

Over time, these vigilante gangs built local empires based on tight social control, strong patronage networks and bloody score settling with rivals. Zinho is the third member of his family to assume command of the militia. The first was Carlinhos Tres Pontes, a former drug trafficker murdered in 2017 in a police operation. Control of the group then passed to another of his brothers, Ecko, who oversaw the militia’s expansion in the western area of Rio. In 2021, he was injured when he was captured. While being transferred to the hospital, he tried to steal the weapon of one of the police officers who was guarding him. Another officer reacted and shot him in the chest, according to the police’s version. It was also a close call for Zinho, who barely escaped. The last death in the Braga Family took place in October of this year. A nephew known as Faustão, 24, accused of 20 murders, was killed by police. He was Zinho’s right-hand man and his possible heir. In retaliation, Zinho sought to cause havoc in the city: 35 buses and a train were set on fire. It brought half the city to a standstill, with mass traffic jams keeping drivers waiting for hours.

Zinho is facing more than a dozen pending cases. He is accused of crimes such as homicide, active corruption and membership in a criminal organization, which could add up to more than 200 years in prison, according to local press. The Prosecutor’s Office believes that Zinho ordered the killing of Jerominho, another notorious militiaman (and former councilor) who sought to regain power in the militia that he founded years ago.

Rio’s most wanted militiaman did not surrender to the police on Christmas Eve because he was moved by the Christmas spirit. He had been backed into a corner and feared both rival gangsters and the police. In fact, he did not hand himself over to the Military Police or the Civil Police, which usually lead investigations in Rio, in many cases responding with disproportionate violence. Zinho was concerned that rival militiamen could have infiltrated these forces. The Federal Police, on the other hand, has a broader perspective and is not as influenced by local dynamics.

Officers from the Federal Police were the ones who dealt the final blow to Zinho’s group, with attacks particularly aimed at its political arm. They searched the home of regional representative Lúcia Helena Pinto de Barros, better known as Lucinha. This veteran of local politics — who was always one of the most voted — was known by the militia as “The Godmother.” She defended their interests in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio and acted as a bridge with the City Council.

Now, it is hoped that with her removed from office and Zinho behind bars, investigators will be able to dig deeper into who was supporting the group. The executive secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Ricardo Cappelli, trusts that Zinho will collaborate. “A militia like that is not established in Rio de Janeiro, dominating almost a third of the city’s territory, without powerful connections. Zinho has a lot to say, we hope he speaks,” he told the Globo news network.

Either way, Zinho’s arrest does not mean that the militias are losing power or that order will be restored to the western zone of Rio, where these groups reign supreme. The main concern now is about the power struggle to take Zinho’s place, and how bloody that battle will be. The territorial empire his brother Ecko created is increasingly fragmented, the Red Command (CV), the main drug trafficking faction, has taken advantage of that weakness to expand, and there is a long list of rivals with a thirst for revenge and power.

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