Brazil’s federal police arrest top criminal leader Zinho after negotiations

By MAURICIO SAVARESE
Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s federal police say one of the country’s most wanted criminals has turned himself in after negotiations with local authorities. Luiz Antônio da Silva Braga, better known as Zinho, is the top criminal leader of the largest militia group in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Federal police said Sunday that he had 12 arrest warrants issued against him. Militias emerged in the 1990s when they originally were made up mainly of former police officers, firefighters and soldiers who wanted to combat lawlessness in their neighborhoods.