In the image, Luciane Barbosa Farias, known as the “drug lady” in Amazonas | Photo: Reproduction
The Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship confirmed in a note released to the WEATHER in Brasila who paid the tickets and daily allowances of Luciane Barbosa Farias, known as the “Amazonian drug lady”, to Brasília. She has been married for 11 years to Clemilson dos Santos Farias, Tio Patinhas. He was arrested in December last year in Amazonas.
In a note, the ministry said that “the payment of tickets and daily allowances was made to all participants in a national event, with its own budget reserved for the National Committee for the Prevention and Combat of Torture (CNPCT) and whose members were exclusively appointed by the state committees “, held on the 6th and 7th of November.
The note highlights that the “Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship is made up of 11 bodies that, like the CNPCT, have administrative and budgetary autonomy”.
And he adds that “neither the minister [Silvio Almeida]neither the secretary nor anyone from the minister’s office had contact with the nominee or even interfered in the organization of the event”.
Sea of controversies
The newspaper State of S. Paulo also reported that Luciane met with authorities from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security in the federal capital. s
Dino denies the case: “I never received, in a hearing at the Ministry of Justice, a leader of a criminal faction, or a wife, or a relative, or a neighbor. Absurdly, they simply invented my presence at a hearing that did not take place in my office” , he wrote on his account on X, formerly Twitter, on November 13.
Removing his participation, Dino directed the explanation about “the hearing, in another location, without my knowledge or presence”, to another publication on the profile of the department’s National Secretary of Legislative Affairs, Elias Vaz. “Reading it, you will see that it is not what they are saying because of vile politicking”, added the minister.
Secretary is also justified
Vaz explained that, on March 14, he received a request for a hearing from Janira Rocha, former state deputy in Rio de Janeiro and vice-president of the Penitentiary Affairs Commission of the National Criminal Law Association (Anacrim).
“At the meeting, held on March 16, Mrs. Janira Rocha was accompanied by Mrs. Ana Lúcia, mother of the young Lucas Vinícius, who died in 2022. And also by Luana Lima, mother of Lara Maria Nascimento, who died in 2022; and by Luciane Farias, from the State of Amazonas”, he reported.
According to the secretary, Ana Lúcia and Luana asked, at the meeting, for speedy investigations into the deaths of their children. He said he had received documents, but none dealing with cases that occurred in the State of Amazonas.
“As for Ms. Luciane, she was accompanying lawyer Janira Rocha, and limited herself to talking about supposed irregularities in the penitentiary system. For this reason, it was suggested to lawyer Janira Rocha that they contact the National Secretariat for Penal Policies (SENAPPEN) “, he wrote.
Elias Vaz added that he has “a long parliamentary and political career, always with the mark of seriousness”, and that he served lawyer Janira and the people who accompanied her “because he knew the aforementioned professional and she wanted to talk about homicide victims”. “I repudiate any abject and political involvement of my name with criminal activities,” he concluded.
‘Amazonian drug lady’ was received by the Justice team
According to the report from the State of S. Paulo, Luciane Barbosa Farias attended hearings with two secretaries and two directors over a period of three months. Her name is not on the official diaries. For the report, the Ministry of Justice confirmed that it had received Luciane Barbosa, but said it did not know who she was. He also claimed that the “citizen” was part of a delegation, and it was “impossible” for the intelligence sector to detect her presence in advance.
She and her husband were convicted in the second instance of money laundering, trafficking association and criminal organization. Uncle Patinhas is serving 31 years in Tefé prison (AM). In Amazonas, he became known for boasting the “reputation of an extremely dangerous individual, with contempt for the lives of others”.
The Public Ministry reports that he has economic power arising from drug trafficking and is usually cruel to his debtors, “taking their lives whenever the crimes in which he is involved makes them a creditor”, according to an excerpt from the complaint by prosecutor Mário Ypiranga Monteiro Neto, August 2018.
Right-hand man of the financial operation
Regarding Luciane, the Amazonas Public Ministry points out that she acted as the “financial arm” of her husband’s operation. “She also played a fundamental role in concealing values originating from drug trafficking, acquiring luxury vehicles, properties and registering ‘orange companies’.” Thanks to her work, she “gained trust from the leadership of the Criminal Organization ‘Comando Vermelho’”, details the accusation.
The Estado de S.Paulo report also highlights that public agendas of authorities usually contain information about the other participants in the meetings, and not just the person who requested the agenda. The lack of control can even pose a risk to servers.
According to a survey by Estadão, in May, Luciane joined the Ministry of Justice as president of the Associação Instituto Liberdade do Amazonas (ILA). On paper, an NGO defending the rights of prisoners and which, according to the Civil Police of Amazonas, works on behalf of inmates linked to the faction. Created last year, the organization would also be financed with money from drug trafficking.
On March 19, Luciane met with Elias Vaz, Flávio Dino’s National Secretary of Legislative Affairs. On May 2, she met with Rafael Velasco Brandani, head of the National Secretariat for Penal Policies (Senappen). Velasco took over the position at the invitation of Flávio Dino. Previously, she worked with him in the government of Maranhão. He was an inspector of the State Penal Police, assistant secretary of Penitentiary Service and Humanization (2017) and undersecretary of State Penitentiary Administration (2018).
Elias Vaz was also announced by Dino as a member of the team in December last year, during the government transition. From Goiânia (GO), Vaz was a councilor in the capital of Goiás, a position he held from 2001 until the end of 2018. That year, he was elected federal deputy for the PSB of Goiás. Before the current party, he worked for PSOL, PV and PSTU.
In a post on Instagram, Luciane wrote that she had brought to Velasco and other ministry authorities “complaints of shameful searches” in the Amazon prison system. She also allegedly presented a “dossier” on “violations of fundamental and human rights” allegedly committed by companies operating in State prisons.
“As a result of these meetings, the first step was taken in favor of visiting family members of inmates where the shameful magazines are being voted on with a favorable majority to be overturned!”, Luciane wrote on Instagram about the meetings with Flávio Dino’s team, without making it clear which vote she was referring to.
On the same day as the meeting with the secretary, Luciane also met with two other authorities within the Ministry of Justice: Paula Cristina da Silva Godoy, head of the National Ombudsman for Penal Services (Onasp); and Sandro Abel Sousa Barradas, who is director of Penitentiary Intelligence at Senappen. Her name is also not on the official diaries.
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