
Brazilian rapper's crime-ridden lyrics link him to notorious gang as police swoop in
A top Brazilian musician ended up snitching on himself after his lyrics citing the feared Comando Vermelho gang linked him to the very same crime organization.
MC Poze do Rozo, 26, whose Instagram page is filled with snaps of his lavish lifestyle and famous pals like Brazilian soccer star Neymar, is being investigated for his role in allegedly inciting violence and drug trafficking.
Narcotic agents from the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police served a temporary arrest warrant at the funk artist's luxury condominium in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, a neighborhood located on the west side of Rio de Janeiro.
In the song Na CDD Só Tem Bandido Faixa Preta, Poze claims it's time for the Comando Vermelho to regain possession of turf that was taken over by rival criminal groups.
He rapped: 'We have Glock, we have AK, 62 with laser sight, terror of the Germans. It's the kids from 13.
'We're going to go back home and put the bullet to eat. Retake what's ours and shout: It's the CV!'
Authorities also claim Poze also only performed in areas where the Comando Vermelho had a stronghold. They believe his shows helped 'increase [the gang's] profits from the sale of narcotics, using the resources to purchase more drugs, firearms and other equipment necessary to commit crimes'.
The rapper's legal team said: 'Poze was surprised with a temporary arrest warrant and a search and seizure at his home.
'The accusation of association with trafficking and apology for crime makes little sense. Poze is an artist who succeeded in life through his music.
'Many musicians, actors, and directors have artistic pieces that depict situations that would be crimes, but they are never prosecuted because they are clearly works of fiction.
'Poze's arrest, or that of any MC in this context, is nothing more than the criminalization of peripheral art, persecution, and yet another episode of racism and institutional prejudice, in the most absurd way, that Poze was led to, and this is the greatest proof of that.'
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BBC News
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They also submitted them to courts in the UK and, later, to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), as evidence that he had been an informant and needed protection. All the courts disagreed and ruled that this was a ploy by Hafeez to rid the market of the ECHR said, was "someone who had brought to the attention of the authorities the criminal conduct of others who he knew to be actual or potential rivals to his substantial criminal enterprise". While Hafeez was writing these letters, a meeting took place in 2014 that - despite him not being there - would lead to his of Hafeez's close associates met a potential buyer from Colombia in a flat in Mombasa, Kenya. 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