adminRIO DE JANEIRO. — Rio de Janeiro officials celebrated on Monday the death of “Playboy,” a brutal gang leader famous for thumbing his nose at the authorities – yet his killing left new questions unanswered.
The gang boss, whose real name was Celso Pinheiro Pimenta, ruled over a lawless slum, or favela, called Morro da Pedreira, controlling a ring dealing in drugs, stolen vehicles and weapons.
On Saturday, dozens of elite police struck, deploying armoured vehicles and a helicopter to corner the man known universally as Playboy.
Officials say they found him in a girlfriend’s house and that, after his four bodyguards fled, he attempted to shoot at police with a Glock pistol and was himself fatally wounded.
“It was a total success, a surgical operation,” said federal police officer Carlos Eduardo Antunes Thome in an interview on Monday on Globo television.
The 33-year-old was long one of Rio’s most wanted men.
Disque-Denucia, which runs a hotline with rewards for information on criminals, put a $14 200 price on Playboy — a fortune in a country where the minimum monthly wage is around $230. — AFP.
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