A Brazilian drug lord wanted for 150 homicides and drug trafficking was apprehended in Caballito.

In the context of a coordinated transnational operation, national security forces succeeded in capturing Fabio Rosa Carvalho, a dangerous Brazilian drug lord who had been on the run since 2023. His arrest, which took place in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Caballito, is a clear demonstration of the tougher security measures being implemented by the government of Javier Milei, with Patricia Bullrich heading the Ministry of Security.

The operation was carried out on Friday night, at around 7:45 p.m., on Pedro Goyena Avenue, 800 block. Carvalho, identified as the leader of the criminal organization "Os Manos," had escaped from a prison in Brazil, where he was serving a sentence for homicide and drug trafficking, and was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol.

The operation was the result of joint work between Argentine federal forces, officers from the Córdoba Police, and a delegation from the Brazilian Civil Police. Everything was carried out under the orders of Judge Alejandro Adrián Litvack, of the National Criminal Court for Letters Rogatory, as part of a case led by the Federal Criminal and Correctional Court No. 9, presided over by Dr. Paula Sanz, with the involvement of Prosecutor Juan Pablo Klinger.

Brazilian authorities recognize him as one of the main leaders of Os Manos, a criminal gang involved in at least 150 homicides since 2009, many of them committed in the city of Canoas, and with proven ties to the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). His arrest is part of the "Cova Rosa" operation, which has already led to the capture of 69 members of the group on charges of drug trafficking and contract killing.

The first leads on Carvalho's whereabouts placed him in Córdoba province, but more precise intelligence work carried out in Buenos Aires confirmed his presence in the capital. In the hours leading up to the arrest, a specialized task force was deployed and captured him without incident.

This is not the first time that members of this Brazilian organization have attempted to establish themselves in Argentina. In July 2024, Víctor Eduardo C.F., age 20, was arrested in San Vicente (Misiones), also with an international arrest warrant. He had fled Brazilian justice after breaking an electronic ankle monitor and maintained ties with local contacts in Posadas, which facilitated his crossing of the border.

In January 2024, in Colonia Aurora, also in Misiones, national forces detained Jonás Vieira, another member of Os Manos who had entered illegally. His deportation was managed by the Federal Court of Oberá, in coordination with Immigration, and was carried out through the Alba Posse crossing to Porto Mauá, where he was received by the Santa Rosa Military Police (Brazil).

Os Manos is a criminal structure that emerged after 2018 on the border between Brazil and Uruguay, and keeps a violent territorial dispute with the Bala Na Cara group for control of drug and arms trafficking routes. That rivalry has left a trail of blood in various regions of southern Brazil.

The fall of Fabio Rosa Carvalho adds to the arrest of its top leader, Luan "Guí" Barcellos, in Porto Alegre, in 2021. Two years later, Brazilian justice succeeded in convicting 23 members of the organization for multiple crimes committed on the border.