HomeNewsBriefWhat Brazil Prison Gang Tattoos Mean
BRIEF

What Brazil Prison Gang Tattoos Mean

BRAZIL / 19 FEB 2015 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

A captain in Brazil's military police force says he has decoded the meaning behind some common tattoos seen in the country's prisons, an example of the kind of coded meanings that certain tattoo designs have developed among Latin American gangs.

Captain Alden dos Santos of Brazil's military police unit told InSight Crime that prisoners ink certain tattoos to represent specific types of crimes they have committed, including killing police, robbery, or trafficking drugs (see slideshow below). The tattoos also "serve to demonstrate power, status...and threats against the state or enemies," Alden said.

{module Brazil Tattoos}

Dos Santos also said that some Brazilian gangs force their members to don tattoos, but first require that they commit some crime in order to prove their worth in the gang. According to dos Santos, there are currently five tattoos associated with the First Capital Command (PCC), Brazil's largest criminal organization that grew out of the country's prisons:

  • the numbers 1533
  • the phrase "Peace, Justice and Liberty," or PJL
  • Yin yang tattoo designs
  • the phrase "death by gun" (morte com fuzil)
  • Images of carps

Dos Santos recently told BBC Mundo he unearthed the meaning behind the body ink by comparing criminal records and tattoos of inmates in the eastern state of Bahia.

The photos in the slideshow above were originally published by dos Santos and are reprinted by InSight Crime with permission.

InSight Crime Analysis

Gang tattoos can carry special meaning in parts of Latin America outside of Brazil as well. In Central America's Northern Triangle region (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala), common tattoos favored by MS13 and Barrio 18 gang members include hands clasped in prayer, spiderwebs, and barbed wire.

SEE ALSO: Brazil News and Profiles

However, tattoos are just one way that gang members may communicate discreetly with each other. According to dos Santos, criminal groups in Brazil also use gang signs, clothing brands, and hair styles as ways to display their affiliation without authorities catching on. Gangs in the Northern Triangle have also reportedly developed a coded language that allows incarcerated leaders to send out orders to fellow gang members.

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 / 29 JUL 2021

A number of arrests made to tackle a sophisticated cattle rustling operation in Brazil have suggested authorities are stepping up…

BRAZIL / 27 JUL 2021

Bala na Cara (BNC) is a prominent criminal group in Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

BRAZIL / 9 AUG 2021

A shadowy vigilante death squad operating on the Brazil-Paraguay border is killing supposed thieves and then leaving notes next to…

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.