Couple leading Red Command in Bahia is arrested in Ceará

The leader of the Red Command (CV) in the Liberdade neighborhood of Salvador, Bahia, Luís Lázaro Santana Alves, known as LL, and his wife, Marielle Silva Santos, responsible for money laundering for the faction, were arrested on Tuesday (4) in the city of Eusébio, in the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza, Ceará. The couple, considered the main target of Operation Freedom, had fled Bahia and were located by security forces during the operation conducted by PCBA (Civil Police of Bahia), confirmed by the SSP-BA (Bahia Public Security Secretariat) to CNN Brazil. Apart from the couple, the operation has already resulted in the arrest of 29 people and the execution of 46 search and seizure warrants, out of a total of over 90 judicial orders. According to SSP-BA, the targets are Bahians linked to the CV operating in Salvador and other cities in the state, as well as in the Ceará region. The Operation Freedom warrants are being carried out in Bahia and Ceará, including neighborhoods in Salvador like Liberdade, Uruguai, Pernambués, Narandiba, and Areia Branca, as well as the Bahian municipalities of Aratuípe and Ilhéus, and in the Ceará city of Eusébio, in the Metropolitan Region of Fortaleza. As per the Department of Homicides and Personal Protection, the results obtained from Operation Freedom are expected to help solve at least 30 homicides in Salvador.