Businessman is arrested for facilitating Ramagem’s escape; What is known about the case?
On Saturday (13) in Roraima, the Federal Police served an arrest warrant against Celso Rodrigo de Mello, son of mining businessman Rodrigo Cataratas. The order was determined by the minister of the Federal Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, as part of the investigation investigating the escape of federal deputy Alexandre Ramagem (PL-RJ).
Celso Rodrigo Mello, 27 years old, is the owner of the company Cataratas Poços Artesianos, which he shares with his father. In October 2021, a group led by his father was the target of operation Urihi Wapopë, when aircraft were seized at the headquarters of the company shared between father and son.
In November 2022, Celso was named along with his father and five other names in investigations into illegal gold exploration in Yanomami indigenous lands. Furthermore, it is investigated in cases of environmental crimes.
This Saturday, the arrest warrant was issued by the 4th Federal Criminal Court of the Judiciary Section of Roraima. Celso was arrested at home and taken to the Monte Cristo Agricultural Penitentiary.
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Rodrigo’s office released a note on social media on Sunday (14) highlighting that the case is being processed in secrecy and there is no definitive sentence and that the defense has already declared Celso innocent.
According to the note, there will be no new statements about the case and new details will be released exclusively on the family’s official channels.
Escape through Roraima
Alexandre Ramagem has been a fugitive from Brazilian justice and living in the United States since September, when he was sentenced by the STF to 16 years in prison for the attempted coup d’état. According to an investigation by the TV Globothe deputy would have left Brazil after traveling by plane to Boa Vista, in Roraima, and driving towards the border with a possible passage through Venezuela to reach the USA.
Ramagem’s wife, Rebeca Teixeira Ramagem Rodrigues, has been a public prosecutor in Roraima since 2015, and traveled to the United States this month to meet her husband in Miami during his vacation.
