Four taxi drivers tortured to death in Brazil ‘as revenge after gang leader’s sick mother had a ride cancelled’

A gang leader reportedly ordered the killings of four ride-sharing drivers in Brazil after his sick mother had a ride cancelled.

According to reports, the four victims, aged between 23 to 48, were called to the Jardim Santo Inácio favela in Salvador before being tortured and killed.  Two of the drivers worked for Uber and the other two for a Brazilian taxi app company, 99, with a fifth driver notifying the police after escaping.

The man reportedly described his abduction on local television, saying he was led behind a shack after being taken from his car at gunpoint.  The driver said he was tied up, beaten and tortured but managed to flee into a swamp when one of the victims grabbed a suspect’s gun. 

Rui Costa, the Bahia governor, said: ‘The gangster ordered these people killed because his mother called Uber, but the car never arrived’. Two suspects in the murders were killed in a police shootout on the same day and the gang leader who ordered the killings was found fatally shot two days later.

According to The Guardian, an Uber spokeswoman said: ‘Uber deeply regrets this brutal and shocking crime.’ A favela is a crime-ridden slum, or ‘shanty town’, and lays on the outskirts of cities in Brazil. The areas have long been dominated by gangs who traffic illegal drugs.