The Primeiro Comando da Capital ("Capital's First Command", , PCC) is a Brazilian
organized crime syndicate. According to a 2023 ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'' report, the PCC is
Latin America
Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
's biggest drug gang, with a membership of 40,000 lifetime members plus 60,000 "contractors".
Its name refers to the São Paulo state capital, the city of
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
.
The group is based in the state of
São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
and is active throughout
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
,
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
and
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. An international expansion fueled by the
cocaine trade made the PCC establish a profitable partnership with the Italian
'Ndrangheta
The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...
and, as of 2023, run over 50% of Brazil's drug exports to Europe. Through the cocaine
trade routes
A trade route is a Logistics, logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over land or water. Allowing Good (economics and accounting ...
to Europe, the PCC also established itself as a central player in the
West African cocaine trade, with its members being able to exert control over neighbourhoods in cities such as
Lagos
Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
and
Abuja
Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...
.
According to a leaked
Portuguese intelligence report, the group also has around 1,000 associates in
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
.
Historically, the PCC has been responsible for several criminal activities such as
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
s,
prison riots,
drug trafficking
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...
,
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
and
highway robberies,
protection rackets,
pimping
Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...
,
kidnappings-for-ransom,
money laundering
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
,
bribery
Bribery is the corrupt solicitation, payment, or Offer and acceptance, acceptance of a private favor (a bribe) in exchange for official action. The purpose of a bribe is to influence the actions of the recipient, a person in charge of an official ...
,
loan sharking, and
obstruction of justice
In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...
, with an expansion focused on drug trafficking since the 2010s. As of 2023, the PCC is currently transitioning into a global
mafia
"Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...
, being able to influence politics
and penetrate the legal economy.
According to São Paulo state authorities, the group has had a yearly revenue of at least US$ 1 billion since 2020.
The PCC is often mentioned to have a different doctrine to other Brazilian cartels, with a business model that favors the quiet expansion of markets over violent and expensive turf wars
and confrontations with the state that would draw unwanted attention.
The
Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime noted that the PCC's ability to negotiate with rivals rather than expelling them has permitted the group to make use of preestablished criminal networks and preexisting logistics
know-how
Procedural knowledge (also known as know-how, knowing-how, and sometimes referred to as practical knowledge, imperative knowledge, or performative knowledge) is the knowledge exercised in the performance of some task. Unlike descriptive knowledge ...
along the cocaine
value chain
A value chain is a progression of activities that a business or firm performs in order to deliver goods and services of Value (economics), value to an end customer. The concept comes from the field of business management and was first described ...
, encouraging peaceful cooperation between different groups and producing greater economic efficiency by reducing
operating costs.
[ However, the group has been responsible for waves of extreme violence, including targeted ]political violence
Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a State (polity), state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-st ...
and terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
, upon having their interests threatened.
History and operations
Founding
The PCC was founded on August 31, 1993, by eight prisoners at Taubaté Penitentiary, called "Piranhão" ("Big Piranha
A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although ...
"), in the state of São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. At the time, this was considered the safest jail in the state.
The group initially got together during a football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
game. The prisoners had been transferred from the city of São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
to the Piranhão as punishment for bad behavior, and they decided to name their team the Capital Command—a name which would stick, as the game was followed by the brutal killing and decapitation of both the deputy director and a prisoner with special privileges, with the head of the latter being put on a stake.
The initial members were Misael "Misa" Aparecido da Silva, Wander Eduardo "Cara Gorda" Ferreira, Antônio Carlos Roberto da Paixão, Isaías "Esquisito" Moreira do Nascimento, Ademar "Dafé" dos Santos, Antônio "Bicho Feio" Carlos dos Santos, César "Césinha" Augusto Roris da Silva and José "Geleião" Márcio Felício.
PCC, which was also formerly referred to as the "Party of Crime", and as "15.3.3" (following the order of the letters "P" and "C" in the former Brazilian alphabet), was founded with a clear agenda, to "fight the oppression inside the São Paulo penitentiary system" and to "avenge the death of 111 prisoners": the victims of the previous year's Carandiru massacre, when the São Paulo State Military Police stormed the now-defunct Carandiru Penitentiary and massacred prisoners in the 9th cell block.
The group had the slogan "Peace, Justice and Freedom" and made use of the Chinese ''taijitu
In Chinese philosophy, a ''taijitu'' () is a Character (symbol), symbol or diagram () representing ''Taiji (philosophy), taiji'' () in both its monist (''Wuji (philosophy), wuji'') and its Dualism in cosmology, dualist (yin and yang) forms in a ...
'' ("yin and yang
Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...
symbol") as their emblem, claiming it represented a "way to balance good and evil with wisdom".[ In February 2001, Idemir "Sombra" Carlos Ambrósio became the most prominent leader of the organization when he coordinated, by cell phone, simultaneous rebellions in 29 São Paulo state prisons, in which 16 prisoners were killed. "Sombra", also referred to as "father", was beaten to death in the Piranhão five months later by five PCC members in an internal struggle for the general command of the group. The PCC was led by "Geleião" and "Cesinha", who were responsible for an alliance with another criminal organization, ]Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
's Red Command (CV). At the time, the gang adopted the CV's far-left beliefs and began advocating for revolution and the destruction of Brazil's capitalist system.
Geleião and Cesinha, from the Bangu Penitentiary where they were held, went on to coordinate violent attacks against public buildings. Considered radicals by another moderate current of the PCC, they used terrorism to intimidate authorities of the prison system and were withdrawn from leadership in November 2002, when the leadership was taken over by the current leader of the organization, Marcos "Marcola" Willians Herbas Camacho. Marcola would eventually order the deaths of Geleião and Cesinha for having testified to the police and for creating the Terceiro Comando da Capital (Third Capital Command, TCC).
"Trade union of crime"
The PCC first appeared as an entity capable of maintaining order in the lawless Brazilian prison system, providing protection to prisoners, imposing rules and punishing crimes such as rapes, murders and extortions, as well as seeking a peaceful resolution to conflicts between inmates. In return, members would be charged a monthly fee to pay for lawyers, provide aid to families in need and to pay for items for arrested members.[
In the late 1990s, the São Paulo State Government sought to separate the PCC leadership in order to dismantle the organization, sending leaders to different penitentiaries across the countries. The action backfired however, as the leaders' "trade union discourse" resonated with inmates across the country, expanding the group in the process.][ In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the PCC became notorious for high-profile bank robberies and prison rebellions, including the largest bank robbery in the country's history, where armed gunmen carried out a heist on the central Banco Banespa branch in São Paulo, escaping with R$32.5 million.][
Under the leadership of Marcola, also known as "Playboy", currently serving a 232 year sentence, the PCC took part in the March 2003 murder of Judge Antônio José Machado Dias, who ran the Penitentiary Readaptation Center (CRP) from Presidente Bernardes, São Paulo, then Brazil's most strict supermax-style prison. The PCC also announced its objective to use prison uprisings as a way to demoralize the government and to destroy the CRP.
In May 2006, the PCC carried out its biggest attacks, in retaliation against an attempt to transfer the PCC leadership to high-security prisons. The attacks lasted for 4 days and caused 564 deaths.] According to the São Paulo State prosecutor Márcio Christino, PCC founders Cesinha and Geleião were more extreme in their methods, intending to use car bombs to blow up the São Paulo Stock Exchange building. Marcola disagreed, believing the PCC had more to gain by keeping a low profile. Such belief was strengthened after Marcola was imprisoned in the same facility as the Chilean guerilla fighter Mauricio Hernández Norambuena in 2006, who taught Marcola not to carry out pointless attacks to the detriment of the civilian population, as those would only facilitate state repression.[
]
Expansion into domestic drug trafficking
From the early 2000's, the PCC started consolidating its power outside of the prison system, expanding its influence as providers of order and conflict solvers into low-income neighbourhoods throughout São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
, known as favelas
Favela () is an hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Morro da Providência, Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de J ...
. During its early expansion phase, the PCC sold drugs at cost price to lesser drug dealers, helping expand their reach, and eventually taking over their drug dens when collecting debts (using a strategy akin to debt-trap diplomacy). This allowed the gang to form a cartel that dominated the city of São Paulo. Eventually, every drug den in SP came to be under the PCC's control, being either owned or "licensed" by the PCC, in a consignment
Consignment is a process whereby a person gives permission to another party to take care of their property while retaining full ownership of the property until the item is sold to the final buyer. It is generally done during auctions, shipping, ...
model where an independent dealer exclusively buys drugs supplied by the group.[
One of the main differences between the PCC and other Brazilian criminal groups is that territorial control is enforced without the open brandishing of firearms ("''ostentação''", or ostentation) that characterizes groups such as the CV in ]Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
. Individuals that fail to comply with the group's "discipline" are judged by the "crime courts", with sentences that can range from beatings to summary executions.[ Rather than expanding by territorial conquest alone, the PCC is able to develop its illicit activities more efficiently by focusing on the regulation and control of markets combined with a monopoly on violence and discipline.]
The PCC's expansion and dominion over the state of São Paulo
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
is seen by researchers as one of the reasons behind the sharp decrease in the state's homicide rate since the 2000s. The criminal group's reasoning is that murders attract police attention and, consequently, cause problems in drug sales.[
In 2014, the Brazilian Federal Police launched Operation Oversea, which first identified the PCC's cocaine shipments to Europe, before the group had consolidated drug trade routes or perfected money laundering schemes.][
]
Control over Paraguayan drug trafficking routes and focus on export market
A turning point for the PCC was set in 2014 when it pivoted away from domestic sales and turned towards the more lucrative export market. The group cemented its influence over the Port of Santos, the biggest port in South America, and evolved into a multinational organization with presence and influence across five continents through alliances with other groups such as the 'Ndrangheta as well as Mexican, Colombian, Russian and African criminal networks. GI-TOC fieldwork highlighted that the value chain often starts with stolen or second-hand vehicles in Brazil exchanged for drugs in countries such as Bolivia and Paraguay.
From 2016, the group cemented its influence over the Paraguayan border, an important trade route for cocaine supplied from Bolivia, Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
and Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
and for arms trafficked from Paraguay and the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It involved the murder of Jorge Rafaat, a Brazilian drug lord of Lebanese ancestry. Rafaat's armored Hummer
Hummer (stylized in all caps) is an American brand of Pickup truck, pickups launched in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a model under GMC (automob ...
truck was ambushed in Pedro Juan Caballero by more than 100 mercenaries, including a Toyota SW4 featuring a concealed Browning .50 MG which fired more than 400 rounds into the drug lord's truck. The 10-minute shootout left Rafaat dead and 8 more injured. About 40 of his associates were subsequently murdered.
This allowed for a major expansion in the following years, with the Brazilian Public Prosecutor's Office estimating that the PCC had reached over 30,000 'baptized' members in 2018, with at least 2 million more allied to the group.
In 2016, the breakdown of a 20-year truce between the PCC and the Red Command (CV) led to a massive uptick in violence across Brazil, with the PCC embarking on an aggressive expansion campaign by absorbing less organized gangs and financing local groups to operate as proxies against the CV across the country, such as the B13 gang in Acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
and the CV's rivals in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
.
In early 2017, a series of gruesome prison riots made headlines worldwide as the PCC fought for control of the North Region against the Família do Norte (FDN), erstwhile allies with the Red Command. On January 1, dozens of PCC prisoners were massacred at the Anísio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in Manaus
Manaus () is the List of capitals of subdivisions of Brazil, capital and largest city of the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Amazonas (Brazilian state), Amazonas. It is the List of largest cities in Brazil, seventh-largest city in Brazil, w ...
after a prison riot, with the PCC retaliating in prison riots in Boa Vista and in Natal in the same week. Dismemberments, beheadings and prisoners being burned alive were commonplace during all three prison riots.[
In 2020, Ryan C. Berg of the Center for Strategic International Studies reported on the importance of the Solimões River drug trade route, calling it a "Latin American Silk Road for drug trafficking" connecting ]Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
and Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
to the Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. The region was violently contested by the PCC, CV and FDN, as well as their local proxies, in a three-way conflict. As a result of fierce domestic competition, the PCC's overseas operations became key to its expansion, turning control over the Solimões river into a strategic objective.
In 2021, the "King of the Frontier" Fahd Jamil Georges, who ruled over drug trafficking and the jogo do bicho in the Ponta Porã region for over five decades, turned himself in to authorities seeking protection, claiming that the PCC was after him.
Over the next months, a wave of contract killings fueled fears that Paraguay might become a narcostate. In May 2022, the Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci was shot dead while on honeymoon with his wife in Baru, a tourist island off Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past role as a link in the route ...
. Initial investigations raised the possibility of the PCC being behind the hit, until Paraguayan and Uruguayan cartels allied to the PCC were implicated in the murder.
A year earlier, the mayor of Pedro Juan Caballero, José Carlos Acevedo, had also been murdered when leaving the city hall.
International expansion and penetration into the legal economy
On 15 December 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments.
The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...
announced new sanctions against organized crime actors worldwide such as the PCC, along with Mexican cartels and Chinese groups linked to the fentanyl
Fentanyl is a highly potent synthetic piperidine opioid primarily used as an analgesic (pain medication). It is 30 to 50 times more Potency (pharmacology), potent than heroin and 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Its primary Medici ...
trade.
The PCC's deals with Western European criminal organizations, especially the 'Ndrangheta
The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...
, have facilitated exports into Europe, including through West Africa, from where the group has become a central player in supplying Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
's cocaine market. The 2020 arrest of a Brazilian drug trafficker linked to the 'Ndrangheta and to senior PCC members in Maputo
Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...
has also contributed to evidence that the group had been active in southern and eastern Africa for years.
The PCC has been noted for its ability to create ad hoc
''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...
and structured business partnerships with other Brazilian groups (including private entities and the state) as well as with foreign criminal networks such as Nigerian, Cape Verdean, Mozambican, Lebanese, Russian, Italian and Eastern European mafias.
By 2022, the PCC had become one of the world's most complex criminal organizations, able to operate across a spectrum of illicit supply chains including drugs, firearms, illegal gold mining and vehicles. Those operations are rooted in an extensive financial infrastructure that has penetrated the legal economy in businesses such as public transport, trash disposal and real estate investment and that extends to legal and financial support to its members through different divisions, called ''sintonias''. This organizational flexibility, combined with a high degree of commercial autonomy for its members, has underpinned the PCC's expansion.
By late 2024, several investigations pointed to an increased sophistication in the group's money laundering operations and involvement with sports, including making use of online gambling
Online gambling (also known as iGaming or iGambling) is any kind of gambling conducted on the internet. This includes virtual poker, casinos, and sports betting. The first online gambling venue opened to the general public was ticketing for th ...
websites and investing into Portuguese third division football clubs
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...
. According to deceased PCC informant Antônio Gritzbach, Danilo Lima de Oliveira, a sports agent
A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...
who took part in Emerson Royal's transfer to Barcelona FC, had been previously involved with the criminal organization.
In mid-2023 and early 2024, deaths of ROTA policemen in the Baixada Santista
The Região Metropolitana da Baixada Santista is a metropolitan area located on the coast of São Paulo state in Brazil, with a population of 1.7 million. Its most populous city is Santos.
As an administrative division (''Região Metropolitana ...
region, considered a PCC stronghold, led the São Paulo state government to crack down on organized crime in the area.
In November 2023, the Brazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations.
The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...
also took up an anti-narcotics role in the Port of Santos, employing divers and dogs in an attempt to locate drugs hidden in hard to reach places such as inside the hull in sea chests. During the crackdown, the RFB also detected an increase in drug seizures on ships heading to Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
and Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, determining that docked vessels with those destinations should also undergo scans for illegal narcotics. Previously, scans were only required for vessels heading to Africa and Europe.
In February 2024, Brazilian media reported on a split taking place among the PCC leadership, known as the "Sintonia geral final" ("general final syntony"). Two PCC leaders, Roberto "Tiriça" Soriano and Abel "Vida Loka" Andrade ordered Marcola's death for supposedly snitching after Marcola referred to Tiriça as a "psychopath" in a recorded conversation with federal officers, due to Tiriça having ordered the death of a female federal officer, Melissa Araújo, who worked as a psychologist in a federal penitentiary, in 2017. The recording was used by the prosecution during Tiriça's trial, in which he was sentenced to 31 years in prison. By 27 March, it was reported that Marcola's allies had quelled the insurrection within the PCC, with Tiriça and Vida Loka having been expelled, having their deaths ordered and losing ownership over cars, mansions, drug sales points and stakes in money-laundering companies. As a result, preliminary information obtained by the São Paulo Civil Police pointed to Tiriça and Vida Loka seeking the creation of a new criminal faction in São Paulo, called the Primeiro Comando Puro ("Pure First Command"), as well as seeking alliances with the CV.
Structure
The PCC is organized through several divisions, called "Sintonias" ("Syntonies"), each responsible for a specific subsection or region of the group's operation. At the top level, all syntonies must answer to the "Sintonia geral final" ("General final syntony"), a group of incarcerated PCC leaders to which Marcola belongs. The group's structure follows a modular design, with regional ''sintonias'' each having their own substructure.
Berg notes that the PCC's decentralized structure has enabled rapid expansion opportunities through a franchise model in which "entrepreneurial inmates" who wish to establish a local PCC branch must be baptized, abide by the group's rules and pay "union dues" to the central organization, who maintains control over the most important elements of strategy through the ''sintonia geral final''. An emphasis on equality and on the sharing of managerial decision-making power, as well as a general readiness to assume positions of leadership, allows the organization to establish a command even without clearly defined commanders. Outside prisons, the decentralized structure helps maximize profits by enabling the PCC to have its drug trafficking network follow a consignment
Consignment is a process whereby a person gives permission to another party to take care of their property while retaining full ownership of the property until the item is sold to the final buyer. It is generally done during auctions, shipping, ...
basis, driving down the cost as lesser gangs and individual dealers engage in competitive bidding
Procurement is the process of locating and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual obl ...
for the right to sell PCC goods.
Though often inconsistent due to the group's clandestine nature and autonomy, sources converge on a general management structure consisting of six "syntonies":
''Sintonia geral final''
The "Final General Syntony" is the supreme PCC leadership. All of its members, including Marcola, are incarcerated. This group maintains constant contact with several subordinate ''sintonias'', who are in turn responsible for running the group's operations:
''Sintonia dos Gravatas''
The "Syntony of the Ties" is responsible for hiring lawyers and maintaining the PCC's legal support network.
''Sintonia Restrita''
The "Restricted Syntony" is akin to an intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy obj ...
, ''sintonia restrita'' members are responsible for the surveillance and assassination of targets marked for death by the ''sintonia geral final'', mapping their routes and day-to-day activities before eventually conducting assassination attempts. Furthermore, the group is responsible for producing intelligence relating to the laundering, moving and safekeeping of large sums of money, having members dedicated to preparing vehicles and safehouses with that objective in mind.
A technical report by the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office described how ''sintonia restrita'' members also employed a "sophisticated" communications network, described as a " compartmentalized closed network" where, periodically, several cellphones were acquired by the PCC and a specific person was responsible for their configuration prior to their distribution amongst sintonia restrita's members. During operations, individuals executing orders were only able to communicate with the contacts present on their phone, using end-to-end encrypted applications such as WhatsApp
WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...
and Surespot.[
]
''Sintonia Financeira''
The "Financial Syntony" runs the PCC's accounting, finances, and commands several subordinate ''sintonias'' responsible for all of the group's commercial operations ranging from drug sales points to marijuana and cocaine exports and lotteries, as well as the money laundering.
''Sintonia do Cadastro''
The "Registration Syntony" is responsible for organizational records management
Records management, also known as records and information management, is an organizational function devoted to the information management, management of information in an organization throughout its records life-cycle, life cycle, from the time of ...
. A PCC member who falls out of line, fails to communicate or pay his fees is considered "out of syntony", being expelled and added to the "Black Book". Out of syntony members are required to pay their dues until a specific deadline before being blacklisted. If blacklisted, a member is permanently expelled and marked for death by the registration syntony.
''Sintonia da Ajuda''
The "Help Syntony" distributes aid such as pensions
A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "defined benefit plan", wher ...
and staple food
A staple food, food staple, or simply staple, is a food that is eaten often and in such quantities that it constitutes a dominant portion of a standard diet for an individual or a population group, supplying a large fraction of energy needs an ...
.
Overseas alliances
'Ndrangheta
The 'Ndrangheta has operated in Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
since the 1970s, but an alliance between various 'ndrine clans and the Primeiro Comando da Capital since the mid-2010s has increased the mafia's presence in the country. A reliable stream of cocaine from Brazil is crucial to the 'Ndrangheta's grip on the European cocaine market, and the alliance has enabled a massive overseas expansion for the PCC through access to different markets across Africa, Europe and Asia.
A share of cocaine exported by the PCC and the 'Ndrangheta moves through West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
, and international and regional law enforcement investigations have implicated 'Ndrangheta elements in cocaine trafficking in several countries across the region, including Senegal
Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
, Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
, Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
and Côte d'Ivoire
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...
. 'Ndrine clans operate in West Africa through the stable presence of individuals in certain countries, as well as through trusted brokers established through visits by 'Ndrangheta clan family members.
Several important 'Ndrangheta bosses have been arrested in Brazil, such as Domenico Pelle, Nicola Assisi and Rocco Morabito.
According to investigations, Morabito is considered one of the main associates of André Macedo Oliveira (known as "André do Rap"), considered one of the current leaders of the PCC.
Hezbollah
According to the Brazilian Federal Police, the PCC maintains commercial relations with the Lebanese organization and militant group Hezbollah
Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...
, specifically in illegal cigarette contraband, arms trafficking
Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms, explosives, and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal tra ...
and money laundering
Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...
schemes. Cooperation between the two groups happens mostly in the Triple Frontier area between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
In June 2023, the São Paulo Civil Police arrested Garip Uç, a Turkish chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
associated with Hezbollah during an operation in Praia Grande. Investigations later pointed to Moroccan hashish
Hashish (; ), usually abbreviated as hash, is a Compression (physics), compressed form of resin (trichomes) derived from the cannabis flowers. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, As a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive ...
being imported to Brazil by a criminal network that involved the PCC, 'Ndrangheta, the Balkan Mafia and Hezbollah, by way of Barakat clan entrepreneurs who operated in the Triple Frontier.
High-profile incidents
2006 attacks
The PCC received countrywide attention with a series of attacks that took place from May 12 to May 17 in 2006. The main targets were public establishments such as police stations, justice forums, buses, inter alia. The attacks took place as a response to a state government plan to transfer prisoners to a high-security prison in Presidente Venceslau and represented the bloodiest assault of its kind in the history of Brazil's richest state, São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
. The attacks were organized by gang members in prison via cell phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...
.
2012 attacks
By June 2012, another wave of attacks against the police began. In May 28, six PCC members were killed in a shootout with ROTA members. However, investigations later showed that one suspect, 31-year old Anderson Minhano was taken from the scene alive and placed in a ROTA cruiser, where it was discovered that he was wanted for the point-blank murder of a police officer two months earlier. The PCC member was then taken to Ayrton Senna highway where he was tortured and executed on the side of the road, an action witnessed by a civilian passerby. As a result, the PCC leadership ordered retaliation against military police officers, allowing members with debts to the organization to clear their slates by murdering police officers.
Throughout the next few months, off-duty police were targeted while driving to and from work, grocery shopping or moonlighting, and buses were set on fire. Police retaliated, with the number of killings by police increasing dramatically, as well as reports of multiple homicides at drug sale points by police vigilante groups.[
By December, the wave of violence had subsided. By the end of 2012, 106 police officers] had been killed throughout the year, with 775 civilians being killed as a result of police intervention, 84 of those by ROTA.
2017 Paraguay heist
In April 2017 the company Prosegur located in Ciudad del Este
Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortened as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km east of Asunción, the capital, and i ...
, in the Triple Frontier of Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
, was robbed by a group of at least 30 men carrying heavy firepower. Early reports said 40 million dollars were stolen, although this was later revised to eight million. The group used automatic rifles, infrared sights, anti-aircraft guns, explosives, bullet-proof getaway cars, speedboats and blocked avenues with torched cars and trucks, locals described the heist as "movie-like".
Since the Modus operandi
A (often shortened to M.O. or MO) is an individual's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as .
Term
The term is often used in ...
was similar to that of past robberies in Campinas
Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...
, Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto (Portuguese pronunciation: Help:IPA/Portuguese, �ibejˈɾɐ̃w ˈpɾetu is a city and a metropolitan area located in the northeastern region of São Paulo (state), São Paulo state, Brazil.
Ribeirão Preto is the eighth-la ...
and Santos in 2015 and 2016, the PCC was the main suspect for the heist, but this was never confirmed. It was the biggest robbery in the history of Paraguay. A police officer was killed and four people were injured.
2023 foiled terror attacks
On 22 March 2023, the Federal Police
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...
(PF) launched Operation Sequaz, which sought to apprehend 11 PCC members across four states who had planned to assassinate several Brazilian authorities, such as Senator and former Lava Jato judge Sergio Moro and São Paulo state prosecutor Lincoln Gakiya. As Minister of Justice in the Bolsonaro administration, Moro had been responsible for the transfer of Marcola and 21 other senior PCC members from state to federal penitentiaries. Incumbent Minister of Justice Flávio Dino commemorated the operation, "sending his regards to the Federal Police for their important work". Brazilian President Lula da Silva questioned the operation, calling it "another one of Moro's setups".
With intelligence collected during Operation Sequaz, the PF also learned that the PCC had sent a three-man team to Brasília
Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
to plan for "a mission in the Federal District". Among the cellphones of the suspects that were seized during the operation, the Federal Police found pictures of residences belonging to Arthur Lira, President of the Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
, and Rodrigo Pacheco, President of the Federal Senate. The leader for Moro's planned assassination, Janerson Aparecido Mariano Gomes ("Nefo"), claimed that the PCC had created a division ("sintonia", or "syntony") responsible for high-secrecy and high-risk operations in 2014, called the ''Sintonia Restrita'' ("restricted syntony"). Sintonia Restrita members would be trained by the Paraguayan People's Army
The Paraguayan People's Army (, EPP) is a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group that officially operates in Paraguay since March 1, 2008, although its antecedents go back as far as the 1990s, acting at that time ...
and operate under direct orders from the PCC leadership, known as the ''Sintonia Geral Final'' ("general final syntony"), mainly in attacks against authorities including politicians and members of the Judiciary. The planned terror attacks sought to retaliate for the 2017 prohibition of intimate visits in federal penitentiaries, as well as Law 13,964/2019, proposed by Moro. Dubbed the "anticrime package", Law 13,964 modified 14 laws and hardened the Brazilian prison system, making it harder for PCC leaderships to command gangs from inside prisons. On 19 July, the PF also found rock blasting explosives in a house belonging to PCC members in Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...
, to be used in an attack against Moro.
Statute
The Primeiro Comando da Capital has a statute with various rules for the criminal organization. Disobeying the rules, says the statute, carries a penalty of death.
On May 16, 2006, a couple was arrested with a copy of the statute.
Infighting
Since February 2024, it has been widely reported in the media that the Primeiro Comando da Capital is currently in a bloody infighting between the current top leader of the PCC, Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho (aka " Marcola") and five high-ranking leaders, Roberto Soriano (aka "Tiriça" or "Beto Tiriça"), Abel Pacheco de Andrade (aka "Vida Loka") and Wanderson Nilton de Paula Lima (aka "Andinho"), Daniel Vinicius Canônico (aka "Cego") and Valdeci Alves dos Santos (aka "Colorido"), since Vida Loka, Andinho, Cego and Colorido are on Tiriça's side in the bloody feud against Marcola.
The reasons that led to this bloody split within the First Command of the Capital are varied, but some of the most serious are:
* In 14 September, a dialogue was recorded between Marcola and agents inside the Federal Penitentiary of Porto Velho (RO) in which Marcola claims that Tiriça would be a “psychopath” (because Tiriça allegedly ordered the murder of 37-year-old criminal psychologist Melissa de Almeida Araújo in May 2017, in the city of Cascavel
Cascavel is a city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. It is the fifth most populous city in the state with 364.104 inhabitants, according to IBGE 2024 estimate. The distance to Curitiba, the state capital, is 491 kilometers b ...
, in the state of Paraná) and which was used as evidence to sentence Tiriça to a more severe prison sentence, which led Tiriça's allies to accuse Marcola of being a traitor.
* Tiriça is very furious with Marcola for having ordered the murder of some of Tiriça's allies in recent years, such as Edilson Borges Nogueira (aka "Biroska"), Rogério Jeremias de Simone (aka "Gegê do Mangue") and Fabiano Alves de Souza (aka "Paca").
* In retaliation for the deaths of Gegê do Mangue and Paca, a hitmen
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, monet ...
team allegedly linked to Tiriça executed with rifle shots the mastermind behind the murders of the two, Wagner Ferreira da Silva (aka "Cabelo Duro") on February 22, 2018, in front of Blue Tree Towers Anália Franco, a luxury hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suite (hotel), suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a d ...
located in the city of São Paulo. It is widely believed that Cabelo Duro was ordered to kill Gegê do Mangue and Paca by Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos (aka "Fuminho"), a close ally of Marcola.
As a consequence of the bloody internal conflict within the Primeiro Comando da Capital, two important allies of Marcola were murdered within weeks:
* Donizete Apolinário da Silva (aka "Prata"), 55 years old, was shot dead on February 25, 2024 in Mauá (a city in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo) after returning from a baby shower. His pregnant 29-year-old wife and 10-year-old stepdaughter were injured in the shooting.
* Cristiano Lopes Costa (aka "Meia Folha"), 41 years old, was killed on March 12, 2024 while he was in a snack bar in Vicente de Carvalho, a district of the city of Guarujá, in Baixada Santista
The Região Metropolitana da Baixada Santista is a metropolitan area located on the coast of São Paulo state in Brazil, with a population of 1.7 million. Its most populous city is Santos.
As an administrative division (''Região Metropolitana ...
, São Paulo
São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
.
Notable leaders and members
* Marco Willians Herbas Camacho, "''Marcola''" (Incarcerated)
* Alejandro Juvenal Herbas Camacho Júnior, "''Marcolinha''"/''Little Marcola'' (Incarcerated)
* César Augusto Roriz Silva, "''Cesinha''" (Deceased)
* Reinaldo Teixeira dos Santos, "''Funchal''" (Incarcerated)
* Júlio César Guedes de Moraes, "''Carambola''" (Incarcerated)
* Daniel Vinícius Canônico, "''O Cego''" (Incarcerated)
* Márcio Luciano Neves Soares, "''Pezão''" (Incarcerated)
* Alessandro Garcia de Jesus Rosa, "''Pulft''" (Incarcerated)
* Lourinaldo Gomes Flor, "''Lori''" (Incarcerated)
* Antônio José Muller Júnior, "''Granada''" (Incarcerated)
* Lucival de Jesus Feitoza, "''Val do Bristol''" (Incarcerated)
* Patric Velinton Salomão, "''Forjado''" (Incarcerated)
* Fernando Gonçalves dos Santos, "''Colorido''" (Incarcerated)
* Pedro Luiz da Silva Soares, "''Chacal''" (Incarcerated)
* Luiz Eduardo Marcondes Machado de Barros, "''Dú da Bela Vista''" (Incarcerated)
* Alexandre Cardozo da Silva, "''Bradok''" (Incarcerated)
* André Macedo Oliveira, "''André do Rap''" (Fugitive)
* Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos, "''Fuminho''" (Incarcerated)
* Idemir Carlos Ambrósio, a.k.a. "''Sombra''" (Deceased)
* Marcos Roberto de Almeida, "''Tuta''" (Fugitive)
* Rogério Jeremias de Simone, "''Gegê do Mangue''" (Deceased)
* Fabiano Alves de Souza, "''Paca''" (Deceased)
* Wagner Ferreira da Silva, "''Cabelo Duro''" (Deceased)
* Marcio Vinicius da Paixão Vieira, "''Pica-Pau''" (Incarcerated)
In popular culture
In the HBO series '' Pico da Neblina'' and in the Netflix series ''Sintonia
''Sintonia'' is a Brazilian crime teen drama television series created and directed by Kondzilla that premiered on Netflix on August 9, 2019.
Narrated from the perspectives of the three characters Doni, Nando, and Rita who grew up together, th ...
'', some characters have criminal activities based on PCC.
The Netflix series '' Irmandade'' is about a prison crime organization based on PCC.
Notes
See also
* Crime in Brazil
Crime in Brazil is a persistent issue that affects the population either directly or indirectly. The country has above-average global levels of violent crime, with particularly high rates of gun violence and homicides. According to the United Na ...
* List of criminal gangs in Brazil
* Comando Vermelho
* Carandiru massacre
* Drug trade in West Africa In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the drug trade in West Africa rapidly expanded amid dramatic increases in US and European demand for cocaine, cannabis, and other drugs. This resulted in the expansion of two distinct trade routes, both of which we ...
* Illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drug prohibition, prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibitionism, prohibit trade, exce ...
Further reading
* Karina Biondi, ''Sharing This Walk: An Ethnography of Prison Life and the PCC in Brazil''. Edited and translated by John F. Collins (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press: 2016)
* Gabriel Feltran, Isabela Vianna Pinho, Lucia Bird
Atlantic Connections: The PCC and the Brazil-West Africa cocaine trade
* Ryan C. Berg
Breaking Out - Brazil's First Capital Command And The Emerging Prison-Based Threat
* Ryan C. Berg
Tussle for the Amazon: New Frontiers in Brazil's Organized Crime Landscape
References
External links
Map of the attack of May 2006 on São Paulo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Primeiro Comando Da Capital
Organized crime groups in Brazil
Drug cartels in Brazil
Prison gangs
Terrorism in Brazil
1993 establishments in Brazil
Organized crime groups in Bolivia
Organized crime groups in Venezuela
Organized crime groups in Portugal
Organized crime groups in the United States