File: Dom Phillips visits a mine in Roraima State
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Brazilian police have arrested a fourth man while investigating the murder of British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira in the Amazon’s Javari Valley.
The country’s federal police said they arrested a man to investigate his possible links with illegal fishing in the area where the pair were killed just over a month ago.
The arrest is the fourth since the investigation began which police said in a press conference Friday was continuing to “see if more people are involved".
Authorities said they are investigating whether the man, arrested on Thursday for presenting fake documents, has ties to illegal fishing activities in the Javari Valley which borders Peru and Colombia.
His identity is unknown.
Mr Phillips, a long time contributor to The Guardian newspaper, was travelling with Mr Pereira, researching for a book about how to save the world’s largest rainforest, before the pair’s disappearance.
The Javari Valley region has seen conflict between Indigenous tribes and poor fishermen seeking to catch arapaima, turtles and game.
Mr Pereira, a former government official with responsibility for protecting Brazil’s uncontacted tribes, had previously received multiple threats from fishermen.
Their bodies were found last month after fisherman Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, nicknamed Pelado, confessed he killed Phillips, 57, and Pereira, before leading police to their remains.
Police also arrested Pelado’s brother, fisherman Oseney da Costa de Oliveira.
The case, which had been in the hands of state authorities, was transferred to a federal judge this week.
