Police in Rio de Janeiro raided the home of an alleged pedophile and discovered $3.5 million worth of Nazi uniforms, memorabilia, and weapons and arrested the suspect and owner of the home on Tuesday.
The 58-year-old suspect was identified as Aylson Proenca Doyle Linhares who was accused of abusing his neighbor's 12-year-old son. The arrest of the man and the raid were announced by Police Commissioner Luis Armond.
Nazi Pedophile's Massive Treasure Trove
Law enforcement personnel revealed that they discovered more than 1,000 Nazi-related items inside Linhares' home. Police said they found images and busts of German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, uniforms, publications, paintings, insignia, flags, and medals of the Third Reich.
Police also found multiple weapons, including firearms inside the suspect's home, a machine gun, and a rifle. The guns were accompanied by ammo from the Nazi era and were stored along with a Nazi membership card that featured Linhares' photograph.
Authorities charged the suspect with weapons possession, racism, and pedophilia after they found photographs of minors inside his home, said Armond. "He is a smart guy and articulate, but he's a Holocaust denier, he's homophobic, he's a pedophile, and he says he hunts homosexuals," Armond said, Fox News reported.
The police commissioner noted that he has never seen anything like what they found inside Linahres' home. He called the scene "appalling" and compared the place to a scene in the movie "Inglourious Basterds."
However, Armond noted that they have only just begun their investigations related to the suspect and noted it was not a common case. He said that authorities were working on determining how Linhares was able to acquire such a massive trove of Nazi memorabilia.
Storing Away The Items
The police commissioner also said that their biggest problem in the meantime is how they will be storing the seized items. Armond noted it would be an issue since the items can deteriorate or be stolen, CNN reported.
But law enforcement personnel have an initial theory of how the suspect was able to get a hold of the goods. They believe that Linhares bought the items from illegal auctions on the internet that were conducted from different parts of the world.
A single Nazi uniform of a high-ranking official from the Holocaust era could fetch a price of up to $290,000. Armond noted that Linhares was likely able to afford the expensive stash of items due to coming from a wealthy family of investors, NBC News reported.
Police are also looking into Linhares' connection to the Nazi group and other far-right groups while trying to determine whether or not he was active in the marketplace for the items. Police commissioner Armond said the large stash of items needed a museum to keep them all in one place.
Many Nazi members traveled to South America after World War II as a safe haven from prying eyes and authorities. The number of escapees included war criminals and officials who were escaping prosecution. Germany and Brazil, which both had large fascist parties outside of Europe at the time of Holocaust era, had strong ties prior to the war.
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