Brazil Goes After Gang Finances But With Little Guarantee of Success

Recent operations in Brazil against the country’s two leading gangs, the PCC and Red Command, show that authorities are varying up their tactics but may still struggle to have a…

'PCC and Brazil Government Engaged in Game of Chess,' says Expert

The PCC has become one of the most complex and important criminal organizations with Latin America, with over 30,000 members in Brazil, an active presence in Paraguay and drug trafficking…

Arrest of Top Trafficker Unlikely to Slow Growth of Brazil's PCC

A high-profile drug trafficker connected to Brazil’s PCC has been captured in Mozambique. The surprise ending to a 21-year manhunt raises interesting questions about whether the current leadership of the…

Gilberto Aparecido Dos Santos, alias 'Fuminho'

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).

PCC's Rapid Expansion Topic of Debate at InSight Crime Conference

Thanks to a combination of great organizational capacity, control of prisons, high levels of loyalty among its members and dominance of key criminal economies, the PCC has become one of…

São Paulo, Paraguay and Beyond: The PCC's Growing Power

Over the last few years, the PCC’s continued expansion into Paraguay has seen Brazil's most powerful criminal group leave behind its roots as a prison gang to become a transnational…

Deploying Soldiers and Tanks Hasn't Helped Paraguay's Prison Crisis

Following the dramatic prison break on January 19 by members of the PCC, Paraguay’s president has once again sent military troops to the country’s penitentiaries, despite the initial military deployment…

GameChangers 2019: Latin America’s Top 10 Criminal Groups

Colombia’s last rebel army is now the most powerful criminal syndicate in Latin America, as it expands across Colombia and far into Venezuela, deepening its involvement in the drug trade.

Brazil Fighting Pesticide Smuggling War on Two Fronts

A growing market for stolen or smuggled pesticides has left Brazil in a bind, as it fights increasingly large robberies at home while also cracking down on smuggled agricultural products…

Capture of Levi Felicio on the Brazil-Paraguay Border Raises Uncertainties

The recent arrest of a purported Brazilian criminal gang boss, as well as a number of collaborators, including police, along the Brazil-Paraguay border has revealed a complicated problem: nobody knows…

Prisons in Paraguay Struggle to Combat Violence from Crack Epidemic

A brutal clash between two clans in a prison in Paraguay this year has shined light on the country’s consumption of crack, the drug that spurred the birth of the…

Overcrowded, Too Few Guards and Easy Access to Drugs in Paraguay's Most Crowded Prison

The June 2019 massacre of 13 Rotela Clan members by PCC inmates at the San Pedro prison in Paraguay shed light on the critical situation in which the South American…