Police in Belo Horizonte, about 400 kilometres northeast of Rio, have arrested three criminals in the last two months who bear the Beatles star’s name:
John Lenon Camargos Gomes, 22, a convicted drug trafficker, was arrested and charged with five murders in December, and is suspected of two attempted murders.
John Lennon Fonseca Ferreira, 22, was arrested during the attempted armed robbery of a house in early January.
John Lennon Ribeiro Siqueira, 19, was arrested as he prepared to rob a lottery outlet this month. He was “armed and dangerous”, say the police.
A fourth man, John Lennon Sebastiao da Silva, 18, was found dead in the back seat of a car in mid-January, after a suspected revenge killing.
Belo Horizonte police say the outbreak is due to the musician’s enduring popularity in music-mad Brazil.