Police in Brazil arrest 18 in connection with murder of indigenous leader

Brazilian police have arrested 18 people, including six landowners, in connection with the murder of an indigenous leader who was fighting to recover his tribe's ancestral land.

A federal police chief from Mato Grosso do Sul state told the Associated Press that Thursday's arrests also included a lawyer, a public servant and 10 men who worked for a security company. The police chief declined to reveal her name for safety reasons.

The victim, Nisio Gomes, was a guarani-kaiowa leader targeted because of his fight to recover his tribe's land.

Witnesses told investigators that Gomes was shot in November, and his body was thrown in the back of a pickup truck. The police chief said the body still has not been found, but that the suspects face murder charges.