THE HOST of a Brazilian television crime show has been accused by police of ordering murders as part of his own criminal activities and then arranging for his programme to cover them to boost ratings.
Wallace Souza presented the popular Canal Livrecrime show from the Amazonian jungle city of Manaus until it was suspended in the face of a growing police investigation into his own alleged criminal activities.
The show was typical of many in Brazil in which indignant presenters rail against lawlessness while broadcasting graphic footage of crimes, sometimes including live shoot-outs or hostage stand-offs, caught by roving camera crews.
So popular are these shows their presenters often become well-known public figures, and Souza’s fame helped him overcome a past that saw him expelled from the police for bootlegging fuel.
In state elections in 2006, thanks mainly to his high television profile, he polled highest of any politician in the state, winning a third term in the Amazonas state assembly. But now Souza is accused of leading an organised crime gang involved in drug trafficking and murders, some of which are being linked by investigators with his show.
“It has been determined that crimes were committed to generate attention for the programme,” said Amazonas intelligence secretary Thomaz Augusto Corrêa Vasconcelos to local media.
Authorities have yet to say which crimes broadcast on Canal Livre were in fact ordered by the show’s host.
Police say they began to unravel Souza’s gang when his bodyguard was picked up last year and accused of nine killings. Moacir Jorge da Costa, also a former policeman, allegedly told officers during his interrogation that at least one murder was ordered by Souza and then recorded and broadcast on his show.
Police have arrested another 14 people who they claim were part of Souza’s gang, among them his son Rafael and a serving intelligence officer in the local police force.
In a raid on Souza’s home, police found assault rifles and ammunition, including spent bullets they believe were removed from crime scenes.
In a safe they discovered €100,000 in local currency along with US$15,000. Souza was not able to explain where the money came from, opening him up to possible charges of money laundering.
Brazil has a long and troubled history of police officer involvement in criminal gangs, often in partnership with former colleagues. Such gangs have been discovered across the country and are involved in drug trafficking, illegal gambling and smuggling, among other illegal activities.
Serving and former police officers also help make up many of the death squads that still operate in Brazil. Rather than supposed political motivations such groups claimed in the past, today these death squads are mainly used by the police to intimidate the criminal underclass as well as to protect illegal rackets operated by corrupt police officers.
Last month Souza was sentenced to two years in prison for calumny after accusing a judge of being corrupt and being involved in drug trafficking on his show. But as a state deputy with immunity he has not yet been detained.
Souza has denied all the accusations, saying criminals whose activities he unmasked are behind them. The ethics committee of the state assembly has delayed an investigation that could lead to his expulsion and loss of immunity.