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LatinNews Daily - 13 October 2020

BRAZIL: Release and escape of top drug trafficker makes waves

On 12 October, Brazil’s federal police (PF) reportedly requested that Interpol issue a red notice for the capture of André 'André do Rap' de Oliveira Macedo, a presumed leader of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) drug trafficking organisation (DTO).  

Analysis:

After a year in preventative detention, Macedo was released on 9 October in a controversial decision by a supreme court (STF) magistrate. By the time a new order for Macedo to be re-arrested was issued, the drug trafficker had disappeared. As well as putting the authorities on high alert, the incident has caused divisions within the STF and sparked judicial discussions over the terms of preventative detention as outlined in the ‘anticrime package’ of laws approved last year. With Macedo cited as being a dangerous criminal, both congress – which added the article justifying the argument for his release to the anticrime package – and the STF stand to face some negative backlash.

  • Macedo, suspected of being the PCC’s main point of contact with Italian mafias, was placed under preventative arrest in September 2019, while he appeals sentences for drug trafficking. Citing the anticrime package, which established that orders for preventative arrest must be reviewed every 90 days, STF Justice Marco Aurélio Mello granted Macedo an habeas corpus request on 9 October. 
  • Mello’s order was reversed the following day by the president of the STF, Justice Luiz Fux, in a move which has caused frictions between the two magistrates. It has also caused discomfort amongst their colleagues in court, who reportedly consider Fux’s suspension of Mello’s order high-handed, while disagreeing with the order to grant Macedo habeas corpus. 
  • Two national associations of prosecutors, the ANPR and Conamp, issued a statement yesterday saying that judges and prosecutors had justified the necessity of Macedo remaining under arrest, and criticising Mello’s “isolated” decision. The prosecutors also argued that the decision over reviewing and renewing preventative arrests lies with first instance courts, not the STF.

Looking Ahead: Macedo is believed to have fled to either Paraguay or Bolivia, where the PCC has also established itself, with Brazilian police saying his capture now looks unlikely.

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