Bruno: Conversations with a Brazilian Drug Dealer

233 Pages·2015·1.76 MB·English

by  Robert Gay

BRUNO

BRUNO
CONVERSATIONS WITH A BRAZILIAN DRUG DEALER
Robert Gay
Duke University Press Durham and London 2015
© 2015 Duke University Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-f ree paper ∞
Typeset in Quadraat by Graphic Composition, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Gay, Robert, 1958–
Bruno : conversations with a Brazilian drug dealer /
Robert Gay.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978- 0- 8223- 5841- 1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn 978- 0- 8223- 5849- 7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn 978- 0- 8223- 7577- 7 (e- book)
1. Bruno, 1967– 2. Drug dealers—Brazil—Biography.
3. Comando Vermelho. 4. Organized crime—Brazil.
5. Drug tra<c—Brazil. I. Title.
hv5840.b6g39 2015
363.45092—dc23
[B]
2014034851
Cover: The Corridor, photo by André Cypriano.
For Mum and Dad

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Tra<cking 7
2. Things Come Undone 29
3. The Family 47
4. The Devil’s Cauldron 63
5. On the Run 85
6. Paradise Lost 109
7. The Leader 135
8. Judgment Day 175
Postscript 195
Timeline of Events 201
Notes 203
Bibliography 215
Index 219

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank Bruno, first and foremost, for making this book a pos-
sibility. I can honestly say I never saw it coming. I would also like to thank
Lucia and her family for their friendship and generosity over the years. My
only hope is that someday I can repay you.
Otherwise, my thanks go to Bill McNally and Neville Thorley for their
enthusiastic reading of an early version of this manuscript; Raquel Heidorn
for her invaluable help with transcription; my friends at the David Rocke-
feller Center for Latin American Studies for their support; Luis Eduardo
Soares, Myrian Sepúlveda dos Santos, Javier Auyero, and Bryan McCann for
their time and insights; and Gisela Fosado and Lorien Olive at Duke for just
about everything else.
Finally, I’d like to thank my family, past, present, and future, for all their
love, patience, and understanding.