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Brazil

Brazil faces a serious threat from its two largest domestic criminal gangs: the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando Capital - PCC) and Red Command (Comando Vermelho), which are becoming increasingly involved in the international drug trade, as well as operating extortion and kidnapping rings at home.

Latest News

5 Takeaways From UN Global Report on Cocaine 2023

NEWS / 17 MAR 2023

A report on the global cocaine trade has revealed how cocaine purity is rising in Europe and how Africa is struggling to stop a flood of the drug.

InSight Crime’s Cocaine Seizure Round-Up 2022

NEWS / 8 MAR 2023

InSight Crime reviews Latin America and the Caribbean's cocaine seizure date from 2022 to find out what it reveals about regional trafficking.

Brazil Targets Illegal Gold Miners With Force and Legislation

NEWS / 7 MAR 2023

Brazilian authorities are shutting down illegal gold mining on Indigenous lands, yet miners move elsewhere. Legislation aims to stop that.

Brazil Profile

Criminal Actors

Armed Groups

As South America’s largest nation, Brazil has produced two of the region’s most powerful criminal groups: The First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC) and Red Command (Comando Vermelho). Both began as prison gangs but have since transformed themselves into transnational crime organizations involved in cocaine smuggling to Europe, controlling the movement of drugs out of country’s ports. The gangs also continue to be a national threat, with members organized around city strongholds, where they regulate everything from local drug sales and cigarette smuggling to violent bank robberies.

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Personalities

Marcelo Fernando Pinheiro Veiga, alias 'Piloto'

BRAZIL PERSONALITIES / APRIL 13, 2020

Marcelo “Piloto” Pinheiro was considered one of the Brazilian government’s most sought-after drug traffickers until 2017.

Gilberto Aparecido Dos Santos, alias 'Fuminho'

BRAZIL PERSONALITIES / APRIL 13, 2020

Gilberto Aparecido Dos Santos, alias “Fuminho,” is one of the leaders of Brazil’s largest criminal gang, the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC).

Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, alias ‘Marcola’

BRAZIL / JULY 18, 2022

Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, alias "Marcola," has been the top leader of the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital - PCC) since 2002.

Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, alias 'Nem'

AMIGOS DOS AMIGOS / JULY 18, 2022

Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, alias “Nem,” led the Amigos dos Amigos gang in Rocinha, one of the largest favelas in Rio de Janeiro.

News

BRAZIL / 14 FEB 2023

Police in Ceará, Brazil, have been detained for alleged connections to organized crime in alarming numbers.

ARGENTINA / 8 FEB 2023

InSight Crime's 2022 Homicide Round-Up covers more countries than ever before, with a major expansion into nations of the Caribbean.

BRAZIL / 7 FEB 2023

A new report points out how the success rate in fighting money laundering across Latin America varies widely from country to country.

BRAZIL / 1 FEB 2023

Brazil's president Lula is acting quickly to kick out illegal miners and loggers from the Amazon. But the right economic solutions are needed.

BRAZIL / 16 JAN 2023

Record seizures of cocaine in Portugal have raised fears Brazil's PCC may be getting increasingly involved.

BRAZIL / 4 JAN 2023

East and Southern Africa are receiving much larger cocaine shipments from South America than previously imagined.

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