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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Brazil Profile
Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, has seen some important security advances in recent years, taking dozens of communities in Rio de Janeiro from criminal gangs through its innovative UPP security program. However, it faces a serious threat from its two largest domestic criminal gangs, the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando Capital - PCC) and Red Command (Comando Vermelho), who are becoming increasingly involved in the international drug trade, as well as operating extortion and kidnapping rings at home. Militia groups composed mostly of police are another source of violent crime, extorting entire neighborhoods and carrying out extrajudicial killings. The country is becoming increasingly important as a market and transit point for cocaine.
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A large-scale seizure of Irganox 1076 in Brazil show that this cutting agent is now being used to cut large quantities of cocaine and crack.
A continuing campaign of terror against Red Command neighborhoods in Rio has done little but kill dozens of people.
Cocaine seizures have jumped at the Guarulhos International Airport near São Paulo, Brazil, showing that neither COVID-19 nor international law enforcement cooperation have pushed traffickers away from South America’s busiest…
A protagonist in one of Brazil’s most infamous corruption scandals is behind bars again, accused of participating in an international drug trafficking scheme alongside a state politician and a scandal-tainted…
Residents of Brazil's largest open-air drug market may have permanently relocated amidst renewed police interventions and the possible orders of organized crime.
The culmination of a three-year investigation has showcased the important role Brazil’s southern port of Paranaguá plays in supplying cocaine to Europe, with gangs there in close contact with Italian…

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