One of Brazil’s most notorious drug traffickers has been captured. Authorities say Antonio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, also known as Nem, was taken into custody Wednesday while trying to flee Rocinha, a slum in the heart of Rio De Janeiro, ahead of security forces implementing a so-called “pacification program” in which they occupy neighborhoods to drive out criminal gangs and restore government control. Rocinha had been under Lopes control for nearly 10 years.
According to Col. Fabio Almeida, Lopes was found in the trunk of a vehicle that was stopped at a police checkpoint. The driver of the car claimed to be a diplomat from the Congo and cited diplomatic immunity after he refused an officer’s request to open the trunk. He then tried to bribe police with $572,000. Federal authorities were called to the scene and arrested the driver and Lopes along with two other passengers.
Lopes was taken to the high-security Bangu Prison for interrogation.
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