The Crime Wars Driving Rising Homicides in Ceará, Brazil
Local and national criminal networks battling over drug routes and markets have turned Brazil’s northeastern state of Ceará into one…
Brazil’s Gangs Expand Their Control Over Internet Services
Attacks and extortion of internet service providers by Brazilian gangs is becoming increasingly common in states in the north and…
How Criminal Groups Have Adapted to the Digital Age
The cyber world is constantly evolving, and criminal groups in Latin America are adapting their modus operandi to make the…
Top-Down Peace, Bottom-Up War: The Collapse of Brazil’s Gang Alliance
The imperfect peace established in February between Brazil’s two biggest criminal groups has become a failed truce after just two…
Brazil’s ‘Anti-Oruam’ Bill Won’t Stop Crime Crooners
A new anti-crime bill in Brazil targets the son of a jailed Red Command gang leader who is using his…
Brazil’s PCC-Red Command Truce Promises an Imperfect Peace
A recent truce between Brazil’s two largest criminal organizations could reduce territorial disputes and violence in Latin America’s biggest nation,…
Crime and Religion in Brazil: The Expansion of Rio’s Pure Third Command
In a powerful illustration of how religion mixes with crime, Brazilian police scaled a water tank in a Rio de…
Paraguay’s Endless Prison Crisis
Paraguay’s penitentiary system remains in a state of emergency for a second year, yet without measures to tackle the root…
Red Command
The Red Command (Comando Vermelho – CV) is Brazil’s oldest criminal group. Created in a Rio de Janeiro prison in…
How ‘Canteens’ Feed Crime in Brazil’s Prisons
The dismantling of the “canteen mafia,” which controlled food distribution in Rio de Janeiro’s prisons, highlights the growing presence of…