The dismantling of the “canteen mafia,” which controlled food distribution in Rio de Janeiro’s prisons, highlights the growing presence of smaller, niche criminal enterprises within Brazil’s penitentiary system.
On November 12, the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor’s Office revealed that, through Operation Snack Time, authorities successfully dismantled a criminal network that managed prison canteens across the state.
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The so-called canteen mafia operated since 2019, involving at least 30 companies and numerous agents from the Secretariat of Penitentiary Administration (Seap), who were implicated either directly or indirectly in the scheme, according to investigations by the Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco/MRPJ).
After securing the contract through a fraudulent public auction, the criminal network generated illicit profits at the expense of public funds, resulting in estimated losses exceeding R$25 million (US$4.3 million), according to Gaeco/MRPJ.
InSight Crime Analysis
The canteen mafias in Rio de Janeiro’s prison system reveal how many aspects of prison life have become criminalized.
Unlike more well-known groups such as the the Red Command (Comando Vermelho – CV) and the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC), which monopolize the trade of illicit drugs, alcohol, and other contraband, the canteen mafias operate as a business cartel, focusing on food supply contracts within prisons.
“These criminal groups choose a business niche, dominate it, and stick to it, accumulating political protection more discreetly than other organizations,” Benjamin Lessing, an expert on Brazil’s prison system and a political science professor at the University of Chicago, told InSight Crime.
Political protection complicates efforts to reform the prison system, he said. Prison directors attempting to dismantle these networks face threats or pressure to resign.
“The canteen mafias infiltrate easily, but who dares confront them? No prison director would risk their career trying to solve this problem,” Lessing noted.
The control such mafias exert over the quality and quantity of food directly impacts prison conditions, indirectly strengthening gangs like the PCC and Red Command, which step in to meet the inmates’ basic needs.
“The presence of these canteen mafias means that food quality will decline, and prisoners will receive less, forcing gangs to provide food and medicine to their members,” Lessing explained.
Featured Image: Brazilian prisoners show their food ration. Credit: Gláucio Dettmar/CJN