Italian police arrest fugitive Brazilian neo-Nazi leader João Guilherme Correa
Correa, condemned for a 2009 double homicide and leading a white supremacist network, was caught Saturday after 15 months on the run.
The capture
Italian Digos anti-terrorism officers arrested João Guilherme Correa on Saturday morning, 27 June 2026. The 35-year-old Brazilian, a prominent figure in the international Hammerskin Nation neo-Nazi network, was located at a rural property in the province of Pavia, near the border with Alessandria. He had been living under a false identity and moved frequently across Lombardy before settling at the farm, used as a country club.
- Double homicide of Bernardo Pedroso and Renata Ferreira in Curitiba, Brazil, during internal neo-Nazi dispute.
- Correa arrested in police raid on Hammerskin summit in southern Brazil; racist propaganda and weapons found.
- Escapes house arrest by removing electronic bracelet days before sentencing, claiming urgent surgery.
- Enters Italy under false identity, begins moving between Lombardy locations.
- Interpol issues red notice, classifying him as dangerous, violent and a flight risk.
- Arrested by Digos Milan in a Pavia farm, held at San Vittore pending extradition.
The crimes
Correa was convicted in Brazil to 35 years and two months in prison for the 2009 double homicide of Bernardo Pedroso and Renata Ferreira. The shooting occurred after a party marking Adolf Hitler's birthday in Quatro Barras, near Curitiba, and was linked to an internal leadership dispute within the neo-Nazi group. He also faces charges for promoting racial discrimination and incitement to racial hatred, with a parallel sentence of six years and six months foreseen under a separate Brazilian warrant.
Flight and international hunt
Correa fled Brazil on 25 March 2025, days before his sentencing, after obtaining removal of his electronic ankle bracelet by claiming urgent surgery. A Interpol red notice issued in October 2025 classified him as "dangerous, violent and at risk of flight". Italian investigators believe the same international network that supports Hammerskin may have facilitated his clandestine entry into Italy in the summer of 2025. At the moment of arrest he presented a false, non-Brazilian document.
The organization
Hammerskin Nation originated in US white supremacist circles and operates in several countries, including Italy. It is linked to Combat18, a group classified as terrorist in the UK and other EU states. Correa was arrested once before, in November 2022, when Brazilian police raided a Hammerskin summit in the south of the country and seized racist propaganda, swastikas and Nazi publications. He had been identified as the leader of the Brazilian branch.
It is an important result in the fight against international neo-Nazism and against those who feed hate, racism and violence. Neo-Nazi organizations represent a threat to democracy and must be fought with maximum determination and through ever-closer international cooperation.
Next steps
Correa is now held in Milan's San Vittore prison while Italian authorities initiate the extradition procedure to Brazil. No timeline has been given for the transfer.
