A second suspect was arrested on Tuesday in the case of the disappearance of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira in early June in the Amazon. Oseney da Costa de Oliveira, known as “Dos Santos”, was arrested by the Brazilian Federal Police (PF).
The man is “suspected of participation in the case”, announced the PF in a press release. After checks, the 41-year-old suspect was taken into custody. The police also seized firearm cartridges and a paddle, without specifying whether these objects were found at the place of the arrest.
Personal effects found
A 41-year-old first suspect, Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, was arrested on June 7. Witnesses said they saw him pass at high speed aboard a boat going in the same direction as the boat of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, before their disappearance.
Traces of blood found on the boat are being analyzed. Personal effects of the two missing were found underwater near the home of the first suspect, who denies his involvement in the case. No link between the two suspects has yet been specified by official sources, but according to the Brazilian information portal G1they are brothers.
A surge of international solidarity
British journalist Dom Phillips, 57, and Brazilian indigenous scholar Bruno Pereira, 41, were last seen on June 5. They then took a boat for an expedition in the region of Javari (west of the Amazon), an area difficult to access and deemed dangerous because of the presence of various traffickers.
Dom Phillips, contributor to the Guardian, was preparing a book on the preservation of the environment and the protection of indigenous lands in this region. Bruno Pereira served as his guide. Their disappearance sparked a wave of international solidarity and an outcry against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, accused of encouraging invasions of indigenous lands and sacrificing the preservation of the Amazon to economic exploitation.