Brazilian authorities on Thursday launched an operation in Sao Paulo state against money laundering by one of the country’s largest organized crime groups, the First Capital Command (PCC), which also operates internationally.
The operation comes two days after Rio de Janeiro police carried out their deadliest-ever raid against another major criminal faction, Comando Vermelho, or the Red Command, which left 121 dead.
The two criminal groups control cocaine trafficking in Brazil, with a reach spreading across Latin America and, in the case of the PCC, to Europe.
On Thursday, officers were deployed to Campinas, southeast of the city of Sao Paulo, to execute nine arrest warrants and eleven search warrants, targeting “businessmen, influencers, and drug traffickers,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Authorities also confiscated real estate and froze bank accounts.
The goal of the operation is to combat money laundering by suspects who used schemes such as mixing funds from drug trafficking with legitimate business activities, the statement explained.
Local media reported the operation had resulted in four arrests and the death of one suspect. Authorities have not confirmed the details.
In August, police carried out a much larger operation that broke up a PCC money-laundering scheme in the fuel business.
Authorities said huge amounts of money were being laundered through gas stations and then moved into digital banks and payment apps known as fintechs.
On Thursday, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a law to strengthen the fight against organized crime, including harsher penalties for individuals linked to the groups.
“We cannot accept that organized crime continues to destroy families, oppress residents, and spread drugs and violence throughout the cities,” Lula posted Wednesday on X.
“We need coordinated work that strikes at the backbone of drug trafficking without putting innocent police officers, children, and families at risk.”
He gave the previous operation against the PCC as an example of one that had targeted its financial sector without any deaths.
The PCC is suspected of having laundered nearly US$10 billion between 2020 and 2024 through the fuel production chain.
Add Comment