Militiaman Tauã de Oliveira Francisco, 25 years old, known as Tubarão, a rival of Luís Antônio da Silva Braga’s militia, Zinho, was shot and died on Tuesday (06/02) during a Civil Police operation in Nova Iguaçu, Baixada Fluminense. The criminal, according to investigations, was head of the paramilitary group that operates in Seropédica and part of Nova Iguaçu.
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From Allies to Rivals
Tubarão was a member of the Zinho militia until December 2022. In January 2023, he went to KM 32 on the former Rio-São Paulo Road, dominated by Zinho’s militia, and took part of the territory in Nova Iguaçu. Rival militiamen were killed by Tubarão’s gang.
From then on, according to the police, clashes in the region increased between the Zinho and Tubarão militias, who had the help of drug traffickers from the Third Pure Command (TCP) in some clashes against the former chief.
War after Prison
Zinho handed himself into the Federal Police on December 24 of last year. Since then, rival paramilitary groups have been waging a war over territory in Rio that has left a trail of deaths.
The most recent death was that of Sérgio Rodrigues da Costa, known as Sérgio Bomba. Investigated for leading a militia in Sepetiba, West Zone of Rio, he was murdered on 21 January in a kiosk on Recreio dos Bandeirantes beach.
Before Sérgio Bomba, the militiaman Antônio Carlos dos Santos Pinto, known as Pit, appointed as Zinho’s right-hand man, had already been killed in December. His car was the target of an ambush in the Três Pontes community, in Paciência, in the West Zone.
Successor
Investigators point out that militiaman Ricardo Coelho da Silva, the Scientist or Cadinho, aged 38, will be Tubarão’s successor. The scientist is much older than his predecessor and, therefore, more experienced. He was the right-hand man of former military police officer Ricardo Teixeira Cruz, known as Batman, former head of the Justice League, the first group of paramilitaries to dominate Campo Grande, one of the militia’s first strongholds in the West Zone.
Analysis:
The report on the death of Tauã de Oliveira Francisco, known as Tubarão, leader of a paramilitary group in Seropédica and Nova Iguaçu, offers a glimpse into the intensification of conflicts between militias in Rio de Janeiro. Added to this, Tubarão’s transition from ally to rival of Luís Antônio da Silva Braga, Zinho, highlights the volatility of these alliances and the bloody territorial disputes between paramilitary factions. For experts on the subject of violence, the hypothesis that Tubarão’s death serves as a trigger for a new war over territories in the Baixada Fluminense and part of the West Zone cannot be ruled out. It is indeed possible for a broad dispute to occur, not only involving heirs of the Tubarão gang, but also new characters that may emerge, such as militiamen from Juninho Varão’s group, Zinho’s group, or even drug traffickers from Red Command (CV) and the Third Pure Command (TCP).
