Brazilian police have accused the leader of a criminal organization of being behind the murder of British journalist Phillips

The murder of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira / Photo EPA-EFE/Joedson Alves

Brazilian police have charged the alleged leader of a "transnational criminal organization" with masterminding the murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira in the Amazon a year ago, reports "The Guardian".

The British journalist and Brazilian indigenous expert were shot dead while returning from reporting in the remote Javari Valley region on June 5, 2022.

Three local fishermen are currently in jail awaiting a possible trial on suspicion of murdering Phillips and Pereira, a former government official who helped indigenous activists defend their lands from illegal fishing and mining gangs.

Last night, the Brazilian television "TV Globo" revealed that the federal police had officially charged two more men with the murders.

Police arrested Ruben Dario da Silva Villar, the alleged leader of a transnational illegal fishing network that operated in the tri-border region between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, and Janio Freitas de Souza, a fisherman who was allegedly one of Silva Villar's henchmen along the Itaquai River where they were killed Phillips and Pereira.

Federal police accused Silva Villar - known by the nickname Colombia - of ordering the murders and concealing the victims' bodies. Souza was accused of participating in both crimes.

The federal police indictment said police investigations showed Silva Villar and Souza spoke repeatedly in the days before and after last year's crime.

During an interview with police in 2022, Souza reportedly claimed to know Silva Villar "by sight." But according to the federal police indictment, a total of 419 calls were made between the two men between June 1, 2022 – when Phillips and Pereira arrived in Javari to begin a four-day reporting trip – and June 6, the day after they were killed.

Evidence gathered during the year-long investigation suggests that "Bruno and Dom's steps were followed by the criminal organization" in the days leading up to the crime.

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