Pirates attack in Amazonas river and murder farmer

Carol Veras – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS (AM) – A farmer identified as “Joel” was killed on Sunday, 9, after being shot by pirates in an attack at Ponta do Tarará, near the lake in the municipality of Tefé (522 kilometers from Manaus). Information from local resident Grazy Braz says that Joel was killed in front of his wife and son.

Other riverside residents in the region report recurring attacks by the same criminals in the same place. According to reports, three rafts (boats) with 16 pirates were seen in the place where the farmer was killed.

The victim was on his way to the Tefé Fair with his family to sell fruit and vegetables, as he did every week. Joel was piloting a dinghy when he was approached by pirates. Other attacks were recorded on video.

“He had come to sell his vegetables at the market, and when he was leaving a hole that comes out very close to Banho da Lica, the pirates shot Joel and he died”, she says.

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CENARIUM had access to another recording, in which it is possible to see a boat being ambushed by a smaller water vehicle. The population reports intense sounds of gunfire. The images were recorded on the Paraná do Tarará stream, near the municipality of Jutaí (917 kilometers from Manaus).

The report contacted the Tefé Civil Police and the State Military Police, but had received no response about the investigations by the time of publication.

Violence on the water

According to a survey carried out by the local union of River Navigation Companies (Sindarma), focusing on large vessels that pass by loaded with fuel on the Amazon River, pirates have already stolen more than 7.7 million liters of fuel in the region. The report does not include other types of cargo looted.

The criminals use speedboats or small boats, which makes it easier to escape after the looting and redistribute the goods to other vessels. The survey totals a loss of R$48 million due to attacks on carriers’ vessels.

Another recurring problem on the rivers, apart from piracy, is the drug trafficking route. Members of the Comando Vermelho and PCC factions vie with paramilitary militias for control of the main routes, used to transport drugs and weapons to other regions of Brazil and abroad.

One case of violence along the rivers that has had repercussions is the murder of indigenist Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips, which took place in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land, in Atalaia do Norte, (1,106 kilometers from Manaus). The mastermind of the crime, Ruben Dário da Silva Villar, known as “Colombia”, was the leader of an illegal fishing network in the region.

Read also: Colombia was the mastermind behind the murders of Bruno and Dom, conclude Federal Police

Edited by Aldizangela Brito
Translated by Bruno Sena