Rio de Janeiro - Mr Hildebrando Pascoal, a Brazilian congress member who allegedly murdered an enemy by slicing off his limbs with a chainsaw is facing expulsion from office after a senate investigation named him as the leader of a drug cartel that controlled the Amazonian state of Acre, Alex Bellos reports.
Mr Pascoal, who was elected last year as an Acre deputy for the centre-right coalition government, is accused of running a death squad that killed at least 60 people and of operating a gang of cocaine traffickers that included two Acre governors, three of the state's seven justices, half of its leading businessmen and hundreds of policemen. Mr Pascoal, who denies the charges, has so far avoided a criminal trial because congressmen are immune from prosecution. However, if expelled, he will lose his immunity and almost certainly faces arrest.
Nicole Veash adds from Sao Paulo:
More than 500 teenagers are still on the run after escaping from one of Brazil's most notorious young offender's institutions during a 10-day jailbreak. Some 1,000 convicted offenders took part in the mass breakout from a state detention unit in Sao Paulo - South America's largest city - to escape from what human rights campaigners describe as appalling conditions and systematic abuse.