The .38 caliber Rossi revolver used to rob cyclist Vitor Felizberto Medrado, 46, was originally registered in the name of private security company Guarita Vigilância e Segurança Ltda. The crime occurred on February 13 this year in front of Povo Park in the Itaim Bibi district, less than 1 km from the company’s headquarters in the Indianópolis district of southern Sao Paulo. The company is no longer active.
According to a registration document issued on November 20, 1995, the weapon (number AA445450) was registered in the National Arms Management System (Sinam) as being used for “defense” and owned by a monitoring company. According to the Federal Revenue Service, Guarita’s CNPJ position was dismissed and the company officially ceased to exist in 2008. The report did not name any former executives to comment on the matter.
According to civilian police, the same gun that killed the cyclist may have also been used by Eric Benedito Bellissimo, one of the suspects in Medrad’s death, during the robbery of an engineer in the southern district of São Paulo on March 8 this year. At a press conference, he confessed to taking part in the robbery while in prison, according to then-Secretary of Security (PP) Guilherme Delight.
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Origin of ammunition
Among the ammunition seized from Eric was one from Companjia Brasileira de Cartuchos (CBC). The company did not say which security force the plot was ultimately sold to, according to the report.
For Bruno Langheani, project manager at the Su da Paz Institute, the incident confirms a historical cycle in which legal weapons end up being used for crime.
“Unfortunately, these findings are not surprising. They reveal once again that arms and ammunition on the legal market are systematically falling into the hands of organized crime. Of particular concern is that the private security sector has emerged as a relevant source of such diversions for decades; Because these are precisely the companies that thrive on the insecurities that this type of diversion creates.The Congressional Arms Trafficking CPI (2006) and ALERJ (2016) have already revealed “staggering numbers regarding the losses and deviations recorded in this sector. ”
Langeani said the institute’s research shows that the majority of diverted weapons are seized close to their place of origin: “In 32% of cases analyzed, weapons were seized up to 10 kilometers away from the point of diversion. This data strongly suggests that close monitoring of legal arms markets at a local level can have a direct effect on reducing armed violence in the same region.”
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The expert also said the incidents of a bicyclist and a technician who were targeted with the same once-legal handgun highlight structural flaws in gun control policy. “The weapons used were legally manufactured and sold 30 years ago, and there is no record of how many crimes they were involved in before they were used against Vitol. More seriously, even after this and other seizures involving leaders of a gang known as the ‘Crime Bosses of Paraisopolis,’ there was no visible effort on the part of the police to trace the source of these weapons.”
cyclist
Vitor Felisbert Medrad was a cyclist and sports coach. The 46-year-old ran a sports consulting firm specializing in cycling. Some of his students exercised at Povo Park.
Vitor is a member of the Ribeirão Preto team that won the gold medal in the team speed event at the 2013 SP regional competition.
On social media, friends mourned Vitor’s death, writing: “You were a brilliant professional and, for all I knew, a brilliant human being.” Another commented on the director’s actions: “If you don’t believe in Vitan, you will never forget his uniquely arrogant and loving ways, good people.”
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