The 50-year-old businessman who was killed execution-style last night on Regent Street, Georgetown was once described as Brazil’s most wanted criminal.
Erian DaSilva of Lot 23 Hadfield Street Werk-en-Rust, Georgetown was riddled with bullets by two gunmen who are still at large.
DaSilva, along with other inmates, had escaped from a high-security prison in Brazil in 2010 where he was serving a 29-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.
He then made his way to Guyana but was arrested by local police that same year. Despite a High Court case to block his extradition, he was later handed over to the Brazilian authorities.
Back in 2012, he was hauled before local courts on three charges: illegally entering Guyana, conspiracy to commit a felony, and uttering a forged document. Among the allegations against him was that he obtained a forged Guyana birth certificate and that he used the said document to obtain a Guyana passport. He was released on $3 million bail, and all the charges against him were dismissed in 2014.
It is suspected that he remained in Guyana thereafter.
According to police reports, on the night of the execution, DaSilva and another man were in a black Toyota Tacoma which was parked on Regent Street for some twenty minutes before the gunmen approached in a white vehicle and opened fire.
The unknown vehicle parked some 15ft away from the pickup and the gunmen exited the car, approached the Tacoma and discharged several rounds before making their escape in the same vehicle.
Police said DaSilva was riddled with nine bullets and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The other man received injuries to his face, right arm, and chest; his condition is listed as serious.
Investigations are ongoing.
