“Fishing mafia” linked to disappearance of British journalist after personal belongings found

A British journalist who was travelling with a former government official went missing in the Amazon after he and his guide received threats from loggers and miners in the region, as alerted by local tribesmen on Monday, June 6.

British journalist Dom Phillips and Bruno Araujo Pereira, a former government official tasked with protecting local tribes, set off last week by boat for a region known as the Lago do Jaburu.

Arriving on Friday, June, 3, they began their trip to Atalaia do Norte on Sunday morning in a journey that should not have taken more than a few hours. When they failed to arrive by 2 pm a search party was sent out to look for them, with local police and the army assisting in the search.

Since then a search was carried out by divers who found personal items belonging to the Bristish journalist including a backpack, laptop as reported by SkyNews.

On Saturday, June, 11, federal police reported that they were still in the process of analysing “apparently human” remains that they had found on Friday June, 10, close to the area the pair had gone missing in.

No further details on the human remains has been disclosed as of yet, but the investigation currently assumes that a fishing mafia is to blame.

The mafia’s scheme run by local businessmen, pays fishermen to enter the valley, catch fish and deliver the fish to them, according to police.

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