Mozambique expelled a fugitive Brazilian cocaine trafficker following his arrest this week, a case that underlines the growing global reach of Brazil’s so-called First Capital Command (PCC) gang, officials said.
Maputo – Mozambique on
Sunday expelled a fugitive Brazilian cocaine trafficker
following his arrest this week, a case that underlines the
growing global reach of Brazil’s so-called First Capital Command
(PCC) gang, officials said.
Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos, aka “Fuminho,” had been on
the run for more than 20 years after escaping from a Brazilian
prison until his capture in a luxury hotel in Maputo on Tuesday.
He was one of Brazil’s most-wanted fugitives, police said.
Mozambique’s interior ministry said in a statement that dos
Santos had been expelled for having entered the southeast
African country illegally. Dos Santos was using a false
passport, Brazil’s federal police have said.
“The expulsion order was given to the citizen and carried out
by the national migration service,” the Mozambique Interior
Ministry statement said.
Brazil’s Justice Minister Sergio Moro confirmed Dos Santos’
expulsion later on Sunday in a Twitter post that included a
photo of the Brazilian Air Force jet that returned him to
Brazil. Moro said dos Santos would head to a federal jail,
without specifying which one.
“A big hit against organized crime,” Moro said.
Originally formed as a prison gang in Sao Paulo, the PCC has
spread across Brazil and is increasingly moving cocaine
overseas, especially to Europe and Africa, authorities said. Dos
Santos was one of the gang’s most important cocaine brokers, the
federal police said, and crucial to its international business.