Arturo Braga, also known as Ramón Campos, is one of the two overarching antagonists (alongside Hernan Reyes) of the Fast & Furious franchise.
He is a drug trafficker and the head of one of Mexico's biggest cartels known for running heroin across the Mexico-US border. He is also a friend and associate of Owen Shaw.
His Evil Ranking[]
His Villainous Deeds[]
In General[]
- Even though Owen Shaw does much worse, he has more resources and screentime, since he leads a team of mercenaries, has a corrupt DSS agent on the inside and tried to steal a military chip that would allow control of a special computer processing unit that could kill millions of people. Their association is transactional and one of professionalism rather than genuine loyalty and unlike Owen, he has no redeeming qualities.
Background[]
- At some point, he was arrested and incarcerated at the Tacumbú Penitentiary in Asunción, Paraguay. Following his release (or escape) from prison, Braga began getting involved in the world of drugs, and became the leader of a local drug cartel in Mexico.
- Some time later, he came into contact with a foreign criminal named Owen, who taught Braga to expand his operations globally. In return, Braga began running drugs and even women for Shaw. Under Shaw's tutelage, his cartel rose in power, and eventually extended to the United States, where Braga and his cartel found a second home in Los Angeles.
- His successful smuggling of heroin into the United States caused him to be put under the FBI's radar; however, Braga had created a new identity for himself as a countermeasure - acting as Ramon Campos, Braga's second-in-command. Although those in Braga's inner circle were aware that Campos was Braga, to the outside world, his true identity was a mystery and it would seem that Campos was just Braga's proxy.
Fast & Furious[]
- To aid his operations, he hired street racers to deliver shipments of heroin. However, he ordered his right-hand Fenix Calderon and other henchmen to kill the drivers once the deliveries were completed. Additionally, with Owen Shaw's assistance, the cartel identified several informants sent by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to infiltrate the cartel, allowing the cartel to kill them.
- He is indirectly responsible for Letty's near death trauma and joining Owen's crew. After learning discovered Letty's undercover status, he wanted her dead to protect his drug operation from FBI infiltration and Fenix supposedly kills Letty until it was revealed that Letty survived the explosion in Fast & Furious 6 and suffered from amnesia.
- After a shootout occurs with Dom, Brian and the FBI attempting to finally take down Braga's operation, Braga escapes with Fenix to Mexico while many of Braga's henchmen are killed or arrested by FBI agents.
- After Fenix is killed, Braga is arrested and his organisation is disbanded.
- His relationship with his henchmen is professional. While not outright abusive, he shows no concern for their deaths and is willing to have Fenix murder his drivers once they have outlived their usefulness.
- Though also religious, due to finding sanctuary in a church in Mexico before he was found by Toretto and O'Conner, this only happens briefly and doesn't detract from his heinous crimes.
Fast & Furious 6[]
- His warning "he'll only be there if he wants you there" (referring to Shaw) also implies Braga holds some power or agency even in prison.
- While he is visited by Brian in prison, their reunion is far from amicable and it is mainly strategic given their previous history and Brian needing information about Shaw and Letty. He also mocks and taunts Brian during the interrogation.
- He revealed that Letty survived the crash and explosion but suffered from amnesia. also. He sent Owen to finish the job but, because Letty had no memory, Owen recruited her, making him indirectly responsible for Letty's affiliation with Shaw before she rejoined Dom's crew.
- Though he isn't wrong when he calls Letty a "tough bitch" and says she was "already dead" when Brian sent her undercover given Letty's tough personality and her infiltration of Braga's cartel endangering her, he uses it to provoke Brian while the latter is behind bars.
- Braga and his men later attacked Brian but he managed to subdue them, with Brian stabbing Braga with a shank afterwards in order to force him to give information about Owen.
- Though he is useful to Brian and tells him the truth about Shaw and Letty, and is less heinous than before this doesn't qualify as honor or genuine redemption.
Why He Doesn't Stand Out?[]
- Although he passes the baseline for running a major drug cartel that runs heroin across the US-Mexico border, his alliance with Owen Shaw and his personal villainy towards Dom, Brian and Letty, he fails the heinous standards to Fenix, Reyes, Jakande, Cipher and Dante, who have similar or more resources but were more dangerous and had more personal villainy Dom and his crew.
- Despite acting on Braga's orders, Fenix nearly killed Letty and gave her amnesia, Reyes, though also a businessman and drug lord controlled the city of Rio and had it's police force on his payroll, Cipher had vast technology at her disposal and briefly turned Dom against his crew, Jakande is a mercenary leader who had access to God's Eye and endangered the city of Los Angeles and Dante is more unhinged and went to extreme lengths to make Dom and his team suffer to avenge his father.
- His crimes-mass murder, organized crime and drugs/weapon trafficking are also standard for an action movie. While these crimes would allow Braga to stand out in other works, he is from Fast and Furious, which is an action franchise and the action genre's heinous standards are quite high.
External Links[]
- Arturo Braga on the Fast and Furious Wiki
- Arturo Braga on the Villains Wiki
