A young couple has been killed after their car was shot around 75 times as they left a casino near the Brazil-Paraguay border.
The victims’ dead bodies were found inside their bullet-riddled car in the municipality of Ponta Pora in the west-central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, along with BRL 10,000 (GBP 1,462) and USD 26 (GBP 19) in cash.
Wellington Bruno Alves, 27, and his wife Daiane Dias Constanci, 26, were killed on the spot in the early hours of 13th December as they left the casino, which has not been named.
The estimated 75 bullet marks from different firearms on the couple’s vehicle indicate that the pair was shot at by more than one person.
In total, 11 bullets from a pistol and 64 bullets from various rifles were recovered at the scene.
Mobile phones and jewellery belonging to the couple were found in the car in addition to the cash, none of which had been taken by the suspects, who fled after the committing the crime and have not yet been found.
Brazilian cops sealed off the area, and they are investigating possible motives behind the shooting with the assistance of the Paraguayan police.
The Brazilian police have revealed that Alves worked as a bricklayer and was serving a non-custodial sentence for drug trafficking, after being caught transporting 500 kilogrammes (1,102 lbs) of cannabis to the Mato Grosso do Sul state capital Campo Grande, which lies some 256 kilometres (159 miles) from Ponta Pora as the crow flies, in 2014.
Alves claimed at the time that he had no idea what the goods were and that he was transporting them at the request of a friend.
Constanci was a student and would have turned 27 on 14th December. She had been in a relationship with Alves since at least January 2018.
The couple came from Ponta Pora, which is separated from the Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero by a lone avenue. The border region is notorious for its disputes between criminal gangs involved in the drug trade.
The investigation into the couple’s killing is ongoing.
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