Police in Brazil charge Colombian fishmonger over high-profile killing in Amazon region

Brazilian police have charged a Colombian fishmonger with plotting the murders of indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips in the Amazon in 2022, they announced Monday.

The statement did not name the defendant, but a police official told The Associated Press that he was Ruben Dario da Silva Villar, and a second source with direct knowledge of the charges confirmed this. Da Silva Villar is accused of supplying the ammunition used in the crime and helping to hide the bodies.

In his statement, he denied any wrongdoing.

Da Silva Villar has been in prison since July 2022, a month after the two men were killed while on a boat trip on the Itaquai River.

According to federal police investigations, da Silva Villar financed an illegal fishing operation in the indigenous territories of the Javari Valley, home to thousands of indigenous peoples, including the world's largest concentration of uncontacted groups.

The killings stemmed from Pereira's efforts to monitor and enforce environmental laws in the region, police said. “The victim was committed to protecting the environment and upholding indigenous rights,” the statement said. Phillips accompanied Pereira as part of research for a book about the Amazon that will be published posthumously.

Pereira had previously worked as an official with the Brazilian Indigenous Office, but at the time of his death he was on leave and working as a consultant for the local indigenous association, known as Univaja.

Over the course of the two-year investigation, nine people were charged, including Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira and Jefferson da Silva Lima, who confessed to the murders but defended himself. A court ruled that both would face a jury trial.

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