GRAVATAÍ, RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL – MAY, 2017 Orides Telles da Silveira, known by the nickname Bonitinho, was one of the most prominent figures of organized crime in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. He was considered one of the leaders of the Brotherhood gang, a group involved in armed robberies, attacks on armored vehicles, and other violent crimes. His life ended in 2017 during a brutal retaliation carried out by a rival gang.
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- Orides Telles da Silveira 1
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- Orides Telles da Silveira 2
Rio Grande do Sul is located in southern Brazil and borders Argentina and Uruguay. The region’s strategic location has long made it an area where smuggling networks operate and where violent clashes between gangs occur over control of territory and illegal activities.
Over the years, Bonitinho built a reputation as a dangerous professional robber. Among his most well-known plans was an attempt to rob a bank vault using a tunnel in 2006. However, the operation failed and Bonitinho had to flee. In the same year, he was also allegedly involved in a plan to rob an airport, whose goal was to obtain money from an armored aircraft. After a police intervention, he ended up in prison, from where he later managed to escape with the help of accomplices.
After returning to freedom, he continued his criminal activities. He cooperated, for example, with another well-known robber nicknamed Seco, and together they took part in several major robberies. In 2011, they robbed a bank and later kidnapped security service employees, for whom they demanded a ransom worth millions. Due to the scale of his crimes, Bonitinho became one of the most wanted criminals in the state, and his combined sentence for various crimes exceeded 200 years in prison.
Although he was later captured again, in 2017 he was granted a less strict prison regime. He was not kept behind bars but was allowed to live outside prison with an electronic monitoring bracelet. However, this decision became fatal for him. He found himself in the middle of a war between the Brotherhood gang and a rival group called BNC. Old disputes and a struggle for influence in the region led to Bonitinho becoming a target of revenge.
On the night of May 2, 2017, a group of armed men entered his apartment in the Gravataí area. According to investigators, the attackers found him while he was sleeping, overpowered him, and kidnapped him. They also forcibly removed his electronic bracelet so that he could not be tracked. He was then taken to another location, where he was allegedly interrogated for information about a rival gang.
The kidnapping ended in murder. The perpetrators killed Bonitinho and then attempted to cover up their tracks. His body was dismembered, and parts were later found wrapped up near a road. Police later discovered the location where the murder was believed to have been carried out and secured evidence connected to the case.
Like many other cases connected to Brazilian gang wars, this murder remained unclear for a long time. The perpetrators attempted to conceal their identities, and the case became a symbol of the brutal way criminal groups in Brazil settle their disputes.
