By Hugo Olazar, yahoonews
Asuncion
(AFP) - Paraguayan authorities got a surprise when they raided a Brazilian drug
lord's jail cell... and found a three-room luxury suite complete with library,
kitchen, conference room and plasma TV |
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VIEW OF BRAZILIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER
JARVIS CHIMENES PAVAO'S CELL AT TACUMBU PRISON IN ASUNCION (AFP PHOTO/NORBERTO
DUARTE)
|
Jarvis
Chimenes Pavao, considered one of South America's most dangerous drug
traffickers, had been serving an eight-year sentence for money laundering at
the Tacumbu prison in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion.
But
little did anyone on the outside know what kind of lifestyle that really meant
-- until a powerful bomb was discovered inside the prison.
Chimenes
Pavao, who was due for release next year but facing extradition back to Brazil
on drug charges, had allegedly planned to use the plastic explosives to blow a hole
in the prison walls and escape.
But
his plan backfired when police poured into the prison to investigate and
discovered his pimped out cell.
 |
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JARVIS CHIMENES PAVAO'S LAWYER SAYS
THE CORRUPTION THAT ENABLED HER CLIENT TO TURN HIS PRISON CELL INTO A LUXURY
SUITE REACHED ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP (AFP PHOTO/NORBERTO DUARTE)
|
The
"VIP cell," as it was known to prisoners, had three rooms with en
suite bathroom, a kitchen and conference room, air conditioning, stylishly
tiled walls, plush furniture and a library complete with a DVD collection to
watch on the big-screen plasma TV, AFP reporters saw during a visit.
The
DVDs included the full collection of "Pablo Escobar," a TV series on
the feared Colombian kingpin who was killed in 1993, a hero of Chimenes
Pavao's.
-
Friends in high places -
The
raid, which took place Tuesday night, has already shaken up the Paraguayan
penal system.
Chimenes
Pavao's lawyer, Laura Acasuso, told reporters the corruption that enabled her
client to turn his cell into a luxury suite reached all the way to the top.
 |
|
THE VIP CELL OF BRAZILIAN DRUG
TRAFFICKER JARVIS CHIMENES PAVAO IN TACUMBU PRISON IN ASUNCION HAD THREE ROOMS
WITH EN SUITE BATHROOM, A KITCHEN AND CONFERENCE ROOM, AIR-CONDITIONING, PLUSH
FURNITURE, A LIBRARY AND BIG-SCREEN PLASMA TV (AFP PHOTO/NORBERTO DUARTE)
|
"Six
or seven justice ministers and six or seven prison directors" took bribes
from Chimenes Pavao, she said.
Justice
Minister Carla Bacigalupo was sacked almost as soon as the scandal broke. Her
replacement, Ever Martinez, vowed a crackdown.
"We're
going to demolish Chimenes Pavao's cell and take measures against the prison
directors who allowed this inmate to enjoy these privileges," he said.
Chimenes
Pavao has now been transferred to a cell in a police special operations unit.
Among
the 3,500 inmates at Tacumbu -- double its capacity -- many already say they
miss him.
"I
don't know what's going to become of us without him," said a fellow
prisoner, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He
said Chimenes Pavao was a generous benefactor who paid for a football pitch and
chapel at the prison, as well as employing bodyguards among the inmates.
"He
was the most loved man in this prison," said another inmate, Antonio
Gonzalez.
 |
|
VIEW OF TACUMBU PRISON -WHERE BRAZILIAN
DRUG TRAFFICKER JARVIS CHIMENES PAVAO WAS PAYING HIS SENTENCE - IN ASUNCION
(AFP PHOTO/NORBERTO DUARTE)
|
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'Not a saint' -
Like
at many prisons across Latin America, most inmates at Tacumbu eat only
irregularly and sleep on cardboard boxes or directly on the floor. Riots are
common.
"It's
miserable," said Josieux, another prisoner from Brazil. "Two inmates
died of hunger and cold" in June, he said.
Things
were different for Chimenes Pavao, who was arrested on the Brazil-Paraguay
border -- a hotbed of smuggling -- and is accused of ordering the killing of
business tycoon Jorge Rafaat in the same region last month.
To
be transferred to the pavilion where he was held, inmates had to pay $5,000,
plus weekly rent of $600, a former inmate, Osvaldo Arias, said in a TV
interview.
In
return, they were allowed to use cell phones, the internet and receive visitors
anytime, he said.
"He
never said he was a saint," said Chimenes Pavao's lawyer.
"But
he was completing his sentence and helping out with the money he earns legally
through his companies," which employ 1,200 people, she said.
She
said her client paid for lodgings for prison directors, toilets for the guards,
the renovation of the prison library and the cooks' salaries.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/brazilian-drug-lord-turns-jail-cell-luxury-suite-032207016.html
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