Paraguayan police and Prosecutor's Office arrest ten suspected traffickers and killers and seize vehicle like the one used in the execution of a journalist

Ten days after the execution of Brazilian journalist Lourenço "Léo" Veras, 52, a hefty operation carried out in the early hours of 22 February 2020, involving agents from the Department Against Organized Crime and prosecutors from the Prosecutor's Office of Paraguay, resulted in the arrests of ten people suspected of participation in organized crime, arms trafficking and killings in Pedro Juan Caballero.

The list of prisoners includes six Paraguayans, three Brazilians and one Bolivian. Four Glock 9 mm pistols were seized with them, a model similar to the one used in the murder of the owner of the news website Porã News, as announced on 21 February 2020 by the team from the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) sent to the site to investigate the death of Léo Veras.

In addition to the pistols, the agents found a white Jeep Renegade, which based on signs, might have been used in the execution of the journalist, on the night of 12 February 2020. Veras was dining with his family the moment a vehicle with four individuals stopped in front of his house, in the Jardim Aurora neighbourhood. Three got out of the car armed with pistols. Two of them broke into the house, shot the journalist, who tried to escape to the rear of the property, but was executed with at least 12 shots.

The operation coordinated by the prosecutor Marcelo Pecci ended at 7 am this Saturday (22. Feb. 2020). In the end, the authorities informed in an interview with Rádio Império FM 103.1 (Paraguay) that the suspects would be taken to Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, along with the material seized for analysis that could prove the group's participation in the execution of Léo Veras.

Tim Lopes Program

All evidence of Veras' death suggests that it is related to the exercise of his work. For this reason, the murder of the journalist will be the third to be included in the Tim Lopes Program, developed by Abraji, with the support of the Open Society Foundations, to combat violence against journalists and impunity of those responsible.

In the case of crimes related to the exercise of the profession, a network of traditional and independent media outlets is activated to follow-up the investigations and publish reports on the accusations worked by the journalist until he was killed. Part of the network today: Agência Pública, Correio (BA-Bahia), O Globo, Poder 360, Ponte Jornalismo, Projeto Colabora, TV Aratu, TV Globo and Veja.

(*) Photo by Angelina Nunes - Abraji