TV, guns, fridges — Brazil prisoner had it all

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – With a plasma TV, a DVD player, $172,000 (87,600 pounds) in cash, gym equipment, two refrigerators and a couple of guns, Genilson Lino da Silva had everything he needed for a luxurious life — in his Brazilian prison cell.

It came to an end on Monday when his cell, which also contained a king-sized bed, was raided in a police operation against drug traffickers in the northern city of Salvador.

“He was alone in all that comfort. It wasn’t very big but the other cells had several prisoners in them,” a spokesman for Bahian state authorities said on Tuesday.

Officials said Da Silva, also known by his nickname “Leg,” was serving time as the biggest drug trafficker in Bahia state. He was reported as saying the money in his cell was from old robberies and gambling in prison.

“We will investigate if the leaders of the prison were conniving in this,” Paulo Gomes, a state prosecutor, told reporters.

He said he was not surprised that kidnappings, murders, and drug trafficking were being directed from inside the jail. “The surprise was finding 280,000 reais (87,600 pounds) inside a cell.”

Source ~ Reuters (Reporting by Julio Villaverde; writing by Stuart Grudgings; editing by Todd Benson)