Brazilian police arrest members of gang created to kill and spy on lawmakers, judges

Audio By Carbonatix

By Ricardo Brito

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil’s Federal Police said on Wednesday it arrested five people suspected of being involved in a gang that was formed to kill and spy on lawmakers and high-ranking judges.

The gang was created by a military officer, as well as civilians, one source with knowledge of the investigation said.

A document seized by the police, and seen by Reuters, shows that the organization went by the name C4, in reference to its full name Command for hunting Communists, Corrupt people, and Criminals.

The document also showed the gang charged 250,000 reais ($44,000) to target high-ranking figures in the judiciary and 150,000 reais to target senators.  

The organization was equipped with rifles and explosives and used prostitutes as bait, the document said.

It is unclear if any high-ranking Brazilian officials were harmed by the organization, but the investigation began after police started looking into the killing of a lawyer in the city of Cuiaba, in Mato Grosso state. 

According to news website UOL, a retired colonel, imprisoned since last year for his alleged involvement in the lawyer’s murder, was among those targeted in Wednesday’s raid.

Federal Police officers also carried out six search and seizure warrants on Wednesday in three different states in Brazil as part of the probe. 

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; writing by Manuela Andreoni; Editing by Bill Berkrot)