Brazil is expanding its institutional cooperation to combat the Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) by treating them as terrorist entities [1].
This shift in classification allows federal agencies to utilize more aggressive legal and operational tools to dismantle organized crime networks. By framing these factions as terrorist threats, the state aims to strengthen its response and reduce the systemic influence these groups hold over national security.
Professor Leandro Piquet, the coordinator of the Multidimensional Security School at the University of São Paulo, said the expansion of these channels is detailed [1]. The strategy involves a coordinated effort between various federal bodies to synchronize intelligence and enforcement actions.
Key participants in this institutional alignment include Robinson Sakiyama Barreirinhas, the Special Secretary of the Federal Revenue Service, and Andrei Augusto Passos Rodrigues, the Director-General of the Federal Police [1]. The Federal Revenue Service focuses on the financial arteries of these organizations, cutting off the money flow that sustains their operations, while the Federal Police manage the tactical neutralization of leadership structures.
This approach marks a transition from viewing the CV and PCC as traditional criminal gangs to recognizing them as entities capable of destabilizing the state [1]. The cooperation aims to bridge the gap between financial oversight and boots-on-the-ground policing to create a more comprehensive security perimeter.
Federal officials said the goal is to weaken the operational capacity of these factions through a unified front [1]. This institutional shift is intended to streamline the sharing of sensitive data and expedite the freezing of assets linked to the groups.
“Brazil is expanding its institutional cooperation to combat the Comando Vermelho and Primeiro Comando da Capital by treating them as terrorist entities.”
By reclassifying criminal factions as terrorist organizations, Brazil is attempting to move beyond traditional policing toward a national security framework. This allows the government to employ broader surveillance and asset-seizure powers that are typically reserved for political insurgency or international terrorism, potentially increasing the legal pressure on the financial networks of the CV and PCC.
