Crypto expert with links to gang shot dead at Brazilian airport

SAO PAULO: A Brazilian businessman, with ties to one of the country’s most powerful criminal groups, has been shot dead at Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo.

Antônio Vinicius Gritzbach had recently entered into a plea bargain with local prosecutors to provide information about Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) – or First Capital Command.

He received death threats from the gang as a result, local media reports.

Three others were injured in the attack, with footage online showing the aftermath. Police said officers had been deployed to the airport and surrounding area.

The moment two hooded men exited a car holding sub-machine guns and began firing outside the airport terminal was caught on security camera.

Gritzbach, a former member of the PCC, dropped his bag and tried to run away – but he was shot many times and died at the scene.

A cryptocurrency expert, Gritzbach had been in the process of telling officials how he helped the group launder millions of dollars.

Reports in Brazilian media suggest he was once considered a key player in the gang’s operation.

As part of his plea deal, Gritzbach had promised to help investigators locate other members and hand over documents.

In exchange, São Paulo prosecutors are said to have offered Gritzbach a judicial pardon and a reduction of his sentence for money laundering.

The PCC was formed in the early 1990s and has gone on to become one of Brazil’s most feared drug gangs. Its members, however, are not confined to Latin America.

Last year, a report by security services in Portugal alone suggested the group had 1,000 associates in the European country’s capital, Lisbon.

São Paulo’s organised crime taskforce estimated in 2023 that PCC makes almost $1bn (£773,000) from international cocaine trafficking.

Courtesy: BBC