Pistol that killed Brazilian journalist in Paraguay was used in seven PCC-related executions

The shots that silenced the voice of Brazilian journalist Lourenço Veras, Léo, 52, while he was having dinner with his family on the night of 12 February 2020, were fired from a 9 mm Glock pistol. The same weapon was used in the executions of at least seven other people in the Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero. All crimes are allegedly related to the São Paulo First Command of the Capital (Primeiro Comando da Capital - PCC) faction. 

The discovery was made based on forensic ballistics made in Asunción, which identified, in cartridges collected at the home of the owner of the news website Porã News, the same brand pattern produced by the pistol precursor at the time of the shot - a kind of fingerprint, unique for each weapon.

The information was confirmed to the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism (Abraji) by authorities involved in the investigation of the murder of Léo Veras. Despite the speed in discovering the brand produced by the weapon, no witness or family member formally testified to the work team of agents specialized in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime of Fiscalia (Public Prosecutor's Office) of Pedro Juan Caballero and Assunción until this Friday (21 Feb 2020), nine days after the execution.

Only one police officer in an unmarked car has been kept in front of the family home in the Jardim Aurora neighbourhood, a region under the influence of drug traffickers.

The task force set up to investigate the case has been working on five lines of investigation that could have motivated Veras' execution. All linked to the activities of PCC drug traffickers on the border between Ponta Porã (state of Mato Grosso do Sul), in Brazil, and Pedro Juan Caballero, in Paraguay, as reported by the journalist on his website.

Among the lines of investigation are two murders and one disappearance in the second half of 2019. The two victims, one a 14-year-old teenager, were tortured, shot, and their bodies quartered and burned.

Another case was seizure of weapons and drugs of the faction, reported exclusively by Veras, who was investigating the involvement of Paraguayan police in protecting traffickers. The journalist was also the first to report an action that resulted in the arrests of three fugitive PCC members from Pedro Juan Caballero Regional Penitentiary, published four days before his execution.

The night after the crime, Marco Amarilla Allen, head of the Pedro Juan Caballero Fiscalia drug trafficking unit, collected from the journalist’s home the computer and cell phone used in his professional activities.

The two devices did not have a password, and the cell phone showed WhatsApp groups with Veras’ sources, including Brazilian and Paraguayan police authorities, in addition to exchanging messages with other journalists about their activities at the border. The police investigation into the murder remains confidential.

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.

The murder of radio broadcaster Jefferson Pureza, 39, in Edealina Goiás, on 17 January 2018, was the first case followed-up by the program. He was killed while resting on his home's veranda. Former councillor José Eduardo Alves da Silva, 41, was accused of being the mastermind and, in the 2019 trial, he chose to remain silent. At the time, the housekeeper Marcelo Rodrigues dos Santos, 40, was also tried, accused of presenting to the councillor the minors involved in the crime. According to investigations, the murder was negotiated for R$ 5,000 and a revolver.

On trial on 9 December 2019, a popular jury acquitted two accused of involvement in the crime, despite recognizing their participation in the case and in the corruption of minors who committed the murder.

The second case is that of radio broadcaster Jairo de Sousa, 43, killed at dawn on 21. Jun. 2018, with two shots to the chest when he arrived to work at Pérola FM radio, in Bragança, Pará. A suspected mastermind is councillor Cesar Monteiro. He reportedly hired a group of ten people to carry out the crime. According to the records of the investigation, the murder allegedly cost R$ 30,000.

In March 2019, councillor Cesar Monteiro had his preventive detention revoked, after the Pará Court of Justice granted him a habeas corpus. There is still no date set for the popular jury. 

(*) Photo: Journalist’s home in Jardim Aurora, Pedro Juan Caballero, where he was assassinated / Angelina Nunes - Abraji.