HomeNewsBriefPCC Boss Living in Lap of Luxury Reveals Group's Rising Fortunes
BRIEF

PCC Boss Living in Lap of Luxury Reveals Group's Rising Fortunes

BRAZIL / 7 OCT 2019 BY CHRIS DALBY EN

André de Oliveira Macedo, a leader in Brazil's largest gang who was arrested in mid-September, was sitting on a fortune estimated at millions of dollars, showing the vast criminal profits the PCC has reaped during its recent regional expansion.

Oliveira Macedo, better known as 'André do Rap,' was arrested on September 15 at a luxury property in Angra dos Reis, a city in the southern part of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Police also seized a yacht, valued at $1.5 million, and a helicopter at the property. Two days later, a Porsche Macan belonging to Oliveira Macedo was also discovered, while another helicopter was seized in São Paulo.

SEE ALSO: Brazil News and Profiles

The drug trafficker also owned a boat reselling business where police discovered 44 boats and which was likely used for money laundering drug profits.

Oliveira Macedo appears to have been a senior figure within the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC). According to police statements, he was one of two men in charge of all the PCC's shipments of cocaine to Europe.

Despite being captured in Angra dos Reis, Oliveira Macedo was usually a resident in Santos, Brazil's largest port through which flows most of the PCC's cocaine shipments to Europe.

"In terms of international drug trafficking, he was the number one in Brazil. Now, within the PCC's internal hierarchy, within their chain of command, I can't say," police spokesman Fábio Pinheiro told the daily newspaper Folha de São Paulo.

InSight Crime Analysis

InSight Crime named the PCC its top Criminal Winner for 2018, as it deepened operations in neighboring Paraguay and Bolivia, with tentacles stretching into Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Furthermore, the PCC has established a highly lucrative drug trafficking partnership with the 'Ndrangheta.

If Oliveira Macedo was truly in charge of cocaine shipments to Europe, it is no surprise he became a lavishly wealthy man. In 2018, authorities estimated the PCC's annual profits stood at between $100 million and $200 million.

SEE ALSOPCC-‘Ndrangheta, the International Criminal Alliance Flooding Europe with Cocaine

To try and hide his drug trafficking connections, he reportedly masqueraded as a high-profile agent for artists and football players, according to newspaper O Estado de São Paulo.

Although authorities had issued an arrest warrant against him in 2014, the operation to capture him began three months before his arrest.

Police began investigating the purchase of a luxury yacht, the very one found in Angra dos Reis. Although it had been bought through a shell company, they found that the registered owner of this company did not have the resources to afford such a boat. This put them on the track of Oliveira Macedo until an informant reported his whereabouts in Angra dos Reis.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Tags

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BRAZIL / 28 JUN 2022

Prosecutors, mayors, prison directors, relatives of officials - are assassinations here to stay in Paraguay?…

BRAZIL / 23 NOV 2022

A lack of regulation surrounding how crypto-currencies are used by organized crime has left Latin America dangerously exposed.

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…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.