Thread: Brazilian Assassin Busted in Boston by Federal Agents

http://www.boston.com

Brazilian fugitive arrested in Boston area
May 2, 2006

BOSTON --An international fugitive who was convicted of two murders in Brazil, including the killing of an Amazon labor leader, has been apprehended in the Boston area, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Jose Serafim Sales, 40, who is also known as Barrerito, was arrested in Somerville, which borders Boston, on April 25, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Sales was convicted as the triggerman in the Feb. 2, 1991, assassination of Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, president of the Union of Rural Workers of Rio Maria, who was shot twice in the head and once in the back as he left union headquarters.

In 1995, Barrerito was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in Belem, a city on the Amazon River. Sales escaped from prison in March 2000.

Sales was also convicted in another murder in the Rio Maria area and is charged with a third murder in Brazil, U.S. authorities said.

Federal agents found Sales in Somerville and arrested him without incident, officials from ICE said. Fingerprints provided by the Brazilian Federal Police matched prints taken from Sales after his arrest, immigration officials said.

"We will not allow the United States to be a safe haven for murderers and human rights violators," Matthew J. Etre, acting Special Agent-in-Charge for ICE in Boston, said in a prepared statement.

Etre said the United States has begun the process to return Sales to Brazil.

Michael Gilhooly, an ICE spokesman, declined to say where Sales was being held or give the address of his arrest, citing department policy.

Sales had been living in the Boston area for about three years, Gilhooly said.

It could not immediately be determined if Sales had a lawyer.

http://www.commonvoice.com/article.asp?colid=4786

Brazilian Assassin Busted in Boston by Federal Agents
Jim Kouri
May 3, 2006


A cooperative investigation between US and Brazilian authorities resulted in the arrest of an international fugitive near Boston who has been convicted of two murders in Brazil, including the assassination of an Amazon labor leader. He's also been charged with a third murder.

Last week, special agents from the Department of Homeland Security's US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Document and Benefit Task Force and the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security arrested Jose Serafim Sales, a.k.a. "Barrerito" in the Boston area.

"We will not allow the United States to be a safe haven for murderers and human rights violators," said Matthew J. Etre, acting Special Agent-in-Charge for ICE in Boston. The United States has begun the process to return Sales to Brazil to face justice.

Barrerito was the triggerman in the 1991 assassination of a high-profile union leader in the Amazon. On February 2, 1991, Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, the President of the Union of Rural Workers of Rio Maria, was shot twice in the head and once in the back by "Barrerito" as he left union headquarters in Rio Maria, a city in Brazil's northern state of Para. The assassination prompted outrage in Brazil and the international community.

Sales was subsequently convicted of the murder and, in 1995, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in Belem, a port city on the Amazon River. Sales later escaped from prison in March 2000. In June 2000, a local Amazon rancher was convicted of ordering the assassination of the union leader that Barrerito carried out.

In addition to the murder of the trade union president, Sales has been convicted of another murder in the Rio Maria area and is charged with a third homicide in Brazil.

Last Tuesday, US federal agents located Sales in Boston and arrested him without incident. Fingerprints provided by the Brazilian Federal Police matched those taken from the suspect arrested in Boston.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri's own website is located at http://jimkouri.us

Idiot should have run to Mexico. Good chance that Mexico would not extradite the guy.

Perfect example of illegal alien criminals in this country. Our government has very little knowledge of the numbers of criminals from other countries that are here commiting crimes and what little is know is not acted on in a timely fashion the guy was here for 2-3 years before they caught him, what else has he done in this country during that time?

http://www2.townonline.com

Assassin was hiding in Somerville
By Brock Parker/ Journal Staff
Thursday, May 11, 2006 - Updated: 06:57 AM EST

Federal authorities captured a Brazilian assassin who has been hiding in Somerville after breaking out of prison six years ago.

Jose Serafim Sales, who was using the alias Barrerito in Somerville, was caught by the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency in Somerville on April 25.

ICE officials announced the arrest last week and said Sales had been living in Somerville for approximately three years. ICE spokesman Mike Gilhooly would not comment on where Sales was living or how authorities learned of his whereabouts.

"We’re happy to have this man back in custody because he truly is a dangerous man," Gilhooly said.

Sales was the hit man in a 1991 assassination of Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, a high-profile president of the Union of Rural Workers of Rio Maria in Northern Brazil. ICE officials said Sales was hired by a Brazilian rancher to kill the union leader. On Feb. 2, 1991, Sales shot de Souza twice in the back of the head and once in the back as the union leader left his office.

Sales was convicted of the murder in 1995 and sentenced to serve 25 years in jail. But he broke out of a prison in Belem, Brazil, in 2000 and had been on the lam ever since.

But on Tuesday, April 25, ICE agents, along with the State Department and Brazilian authorities, arrested Sales in Somerville without incident, according to ICE officials. Sales’ fingerprints confirmed he was the same assassin who was wanted for the de Souza murder and two other homicides in Brazil.

"He remains in our custody," Gilhooly said.

The United States has begun the process of returning Sales to Brazil to "face justice" there, according to a press release about the arrest.

Well that is one less murderer how many left to go?

I'd hate to even guess. Everytime the pres. mentions terriorism or anything pertaining to it I want to jump through the screen at him. There's god only knows how many criminals running through our streets. Makes me ill.

Just one more reason to tighten/close our borders.

http://www2.townonline.com

Assassin caught in Somerville to be deported
By David L. Harris/ Journal Staff
Thursday, September 14, 2006 - Updated: 09:16 AM EST

A Brazilian assassin who was caught in Somerville last spring is now back in immigration custody after he was sentenced for passport fraud.

ICE agents captured Jose Serafim Sales, who went by the alias Barrerito, April 25 in Somerville with the assistance of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and now faces deportation proceedings.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner sentenced Sales last week to four months in custody as time served. He’s now back into immigration custody to face removal proceedings in immigration court.

According to immigration officials, Sales was the triggerman in the 1991 assassination of a high-profile union leader in the Amazon. On Feb. 2, 1991, Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, the president of the Union of Rural Workers of Rio Maria, was shot twice in the head and once in the back by Sales as he left union headquarters in Rio Maria, a city in Brazil’s northern state of Para.

The assassination prompted outrage in Brazil and the international community. He was subsequently convicted of the murder and, in 1995, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a court in Belem, a port city on the Amazon River. Sales escaped from prison in March 2000. In June 2000, a local Amazon rancher was convicted of ordering the assassination of the union leader that Sales carried out.

"This case is an outstanding example of international law enforcement cooperation which resulted in the capture of a cold-blooded killer," said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent-in-charge for ICE in Boston. "America will not be a safe haven for murderers and human rights violators."

In addition to the murder of the trade union president, Sales has been convicted of another murder in the Rio Maria area and is charged with a third homicide in Brazil.