Erismar Rodrigues Moreira (died October 29, 2005), also known as "Bem-Te-Vi", was a gang leader in the Brazilian slum Rocinha, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. He was considered to be the most wanted criminal in Rio during his prime.

Early activities

Moreira's family moved from

Ceará Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the ...

to Rocinha looking for work. His father then left Moreira's mother and children, traveling south. Moreira joined his first gang,

Comando Vermelho Comando Vermelho (, ''Red Command'' or ''Red Commando''), also known as C.V. is a Brazilian criminal organization engaged primarily in drug trafficking, arms trafficking, protection racketeering, kidnappings-for-ransom, armored truck hijacking ...

(Red Command), at age 14. He stayed with Commando Vermelho until early 2004, when he switched allegiances to Amigos dos Amigos (Friends of Friends), which then quickly took control of Rocinha.

Criminal career

In April 2004 Luciano Barbosa, the Amigos dos Amigos boss, was killed by police, and Moreira took his place, controlling cocaine-packing and selling. He gained the nickname Bem-Te-Vi. Moreira was known for his extravagant lifestyle. He often carried around guns needlessly and had several girlfriends. His band and himself had several gold plated pistols and assault rifles. His large gang had a complete hierarchy of various layers including bodyguards, security guards, contention keepers, soldiers, pushers, and watchguards. Always very ruthless, anyone crossing certain understood laws of the shantytowns or most certainly an undercover policeman caught by this gang would be brought to end by one choice from a number of possible gruesome deaths. The parallel power that dominates the favelas brings cops to one particularly popular execution within the underworld's street justice called the "micro-ondas" (micro-wave), which carbonises a body inside a flaming, gas-soaked stand of tires. Moreira was alleged to have connections with prominent Brazilian soccer players (for example Júlio César, former

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

goalkeeper), musicians and actors. Moreira also gained the respect of the Rocinha populace by hosting expensive parties and defending the community. Moreira was killed by Police in Operation Trojan early in the morning of October 29, 2005. Moreira was succeeded by his cousin, Orlando Jose Rodrigues, but was executed three days later by Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes and replaced by an unknown figure solely known as "Roca".

References

External links

Rio drug lord killed in slum shootout
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moreira, Erismar Rodrigues Year of birth missing 2005 deaths Gang members Brazilian drug traffickers Brazilian gangsters 1970s births People from Ceará