Brazil Reels From String of Targeted Attacks and Highway Deaths as Police Step Up Operations

Overview

• In Marabá (PA), businessman Anderson Torres dos Santos, 32, was killed in an ambush, and police later seized nearly half a kilo of cocaine and trafficking materials in a residence linked to the case.
• On BR‑365 in Minas Gerais, authorities counted nine deaths in less than 72 hours after multiple crashes, prompting traffic closures and ongoing highway‑safety inquiries by PRF and state teams.
• A fugitive identified as Bruno Henrique Castro Fonseca, 27, died after a reported shootout with Military Police near Lajeado (TO), with officers citing open homicide warrants in Pará and other offenses.
• In Fortaleza (CE), integrated forces led by Ficco/CE arrested a suspect tied to an attempted massacre in Tauá that left one woman dead and three people injured, according to police.
• In São Paulo’s Vila Andrade, an off‑duty penal officer shot and apprehended a 16‑year‑old during a street robbery spree, with the case recorded as a juvenile offense for robbery, resistance and firearm seizure.