Brazilian police name man allegedly behind Dom and Bruno murders

Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira went missing in a remote Amazon region on June 5. Photo: Brazilian Army via EFE

Brazilian federal marshals said Monday they believe they have solved the murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Vale do Javari indigenous territory, a remote area of the Amazon rainforest. The crime was committed in June of last year.

Federal police say a Colombian national named Rubén Dario da Silva Villar, who was already in police custody, was the brains behind the murders. He will also face charges for using fake Brazilian and Peruvian documents.

Mr. Villar, also known as “Colômbia,” is accused of being the brains and bank behind an illegal fishing ring operating in the western Brazilian Amazon — specifically in and around the Vale do Javari.

Police believe that Messrs. Phillips and Pereira were killed as a result of the latter’s work to combat illegal fishermen in the Vale do Javari.

The illegal fishing scheme consists of trespassing on protected indigenous lands to collect large quantities of valuable pirarucu fish and tracajá river turtles, which are then sold at a fence on the island of Islandia, across the border with Peru.

Colômbia is the owner of said fence, which consists of a floating barge on the Javari River, on the outer edge of Islandia. He reportedly supplies men with the boats and equipment required for their illegal expeditions into the Vale do Javari reserve, trips which can cost an estimated BRL 250,000 (USD 48,500) but can yield profits in excess of BRL 500,000.

Colômbia reportedly uses the buying and selling of fish on his floating barge as a front for drug trafficking, supplying narcotics to Brazilian organized crime groups. Several sources in the region confirmed this information to The Brazilian Report for an article published on June 23, 2022, but were unwilling to go on the record for fear of their safety.

Police say evidence shows that Colômbia provided two accomplices with the ammunition used in the murder. A fourth man helped them dispose of the bodies.

Earlier this year, the Justice Ministry decided as “a matter of honor” to finally conclude the investigation into the murder of Rio de Janeiro City Councilor Marielle Franco. Indigenous activists demand the same commitment to the murders of Dom and Bruno.