Gunmen and helicopter attack Brazilian prison
Armed men firing from pick-up trucks and a helicopter attacked a maximum-security prison holding some of Brazil’s highest-profile inmates, but were repelled by guards, authorities said.
The prison is home to Colombian drug lord Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia and Brazilian gang leader Luiz Fernando da Costa.
Authorities were investigating whether the gunmen were trying to free either of the men.
Brazil prisons chief Wilson Damasio said: “The prison was attacked by gunmen wielding heavy-calibre weapons. The idea was obviously to free inmates. There is no other reason for attacking a jail.”
The helicopter flew over the prison during the attack but never landed, according to a justice ministry spokesman.
Shots were fired at the control towers of the prison, and guards counterattacked with their own gunfire and by lobbing grenades, Brazil’s Globo TV reported.
All of the attackers got away and no one was injured at the prison, located in the Mato Grosso do Sul state capital of Campo Grande in south-western Brazil.
Ramirez Abadia – nicknamed Chupeta, or Lollipop – is accused of leading the powerful Norte del Valle cartel, which emerged as Colombia’s most powerful drug gang in the mid-1990s. A Brazilian judge found him guilty of money laundering, corruption, conspiracy and use of false documents.
Ramirez Abadia’s gang laundered drug profits from Mexico and Spain, moving money through Uruguay to Brazil and funnelling it into hotels, mansions, businesses and cars in Brazil.
Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled last month that Ramirez Abadia could also be extradited to the United States to face racketeering charges – a decision that is up to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Mr Silva has not indicated whether he will approve the extradition.
Da Costa is Brazil’s most notorious drug trafficker. Better known as Fernandinho Beira-Mar – Portuguese for Seaside Freddy – da Costa was captured in 2001 in the Colombian jungle and accused of giving cash and weapons to left-wing rebels in exchange for cocaine.
