Avenida Brasil is closed in Guadalupe after police officers are injured in shooting
A violent shootout led to the closure of Avenida Brasil, one of the main roads in Rio de Janeiro, last Wednesday. The confrontation, which took place in the community of Muquiço, located in Guadalupe, in the North Zone of the city, resulted in two police officers from the Baixada Fluminense Homicide Police Station (DHBF) being injured. Both agents were quickly taken to the Albert Schweitzer Municipal Hospital, in Realengo, where one received treatment for a wound to the left leg and the other to the head.
Rio City Hall, through the Operations and Resilience Center (COR), issued an alert advising drivers to avoid the region affected by the incident. According to information from the agency, the closure blocked one lane of the lateral lane and another of the central lane towards the Center, specifically in the vicinity of the Guadalupe BRT station.
Civil Police investigators detailed, in a statement, that DHBF agents were carrying out routine operations in the Guadalupe area, in the North Zone of Rio, when they were surprised by an attack while passing through Avenida Brasil. Immediately, several teams from other units of the corporation were mobilized to offer support on site. The situation remains developing, with the incident still ongoing.
In an official statement, the Civil Police emphasized that any aggression directed at its agents represents a direct challenge to the State itself. The institution guaranteed that it will maintain its firm and constant stance in combating criminal factions and repressing illicit activities. This type of incident reflects the complex and dangerous dynamics of organized crime in Baixada Fluminense and the North Zone, where territorial disputes between rival groups are constant.
Drug leader known as Coronel do Muquiço was recently arrested
Months before the recent incident on Avenida Brasil, Bruno da Silva Loureiro, 43, better known by his nickname Coronel do Muquiço, was captured. He was considered by the security forces to be one of the most wanted individuals in the State of Rio. The arrest took place at the Ronaldo Gazolla Municipal Hospital, in Acari, where the criminal was hospitalized treating an infection and was waiting to undergo a surgical procedure, as disclosed by the Military Police.
Loureiro’s criminal record is extensive, and he is identified as the main leader of drug trafficking in the community of Muquiço, which forms the border between Guadalupe and Deodoro. In addition to being seen as one of the most influential leaders of the Third Pure Command (TCP) in the West Zone, the “Colonel” had accumulated convictions for several serious crimes, including murder, drug trafficking, robbery, bodily harm, receiving stolen goods, illegal possession of a weapon and criminal association.
Among the most serious charges attributed to him is the murder of Sther Barroso dos Santos, a 22-year-old girl. The victim was killed in August of the previous year, after refusing to go out with a drug dealer during a funk party in Senador Camará. Investigations revealed that Sther was removed from the party, brutally beaten and tortured before her body was abandoned at the door of her residence.
Another high-profile investigation also associated Bruno with the execution of Vitor Lima da Cunha, which took place in 2022. Vitor was killed after changing his allegiance from TCP to Comando Vermelho. This investigation culminated in the indictment of Michael Johnny Vianna de Azevedo, former advisor to state deputy Val Ceasa, on suspicion of involvement in paying for the murder. The name of Coronel do Muquiço also emerged in investigations by the Public Ministry investigating possible ties between members and former members of Val Ceasa’s cabinet and the criminal faction of which he was leader.
