HomeNewsBrief'Hitman Linked to Brazil Gangs Arrested in Bolivia'
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'Hitman Linked to Brazil Gangs Arrested in Bolivia'

BOLIVIA / 21 JUL 2011 BY JEN SOKATCH EN

Authorities said they had arrested a hitman with links to Comando Vermelho, one of Brazil’s most dangerous gangs, in the department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Marcos Andre Magalhaes Olivera, alias "La Biche," was allegedly part of a three-member group, Commando M-16, in Bolivia. Police said that he also had ties to Red Command (Comando Vermelho) a powerful Brazilian drug gang.

Authorities are accusing Magalhaes of six murders.  His wife and another woman were also detained in the raid, according to reports.

Beginning as a prison gang in the late 1970s, Red Command grew to become one of the most powerful drug trafficking forces in Brazil.

As Insight Crime has reported that Brazilian drug gangs are also operating across the border in the neighboring country of Paraguay.

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