Criminal factions and militias have erected barricades and checkpoints across the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area to restrict movement and enforce informal rules.
This expansion of territorial control signals a shift in how organized crime operates in Brazil, moving from clandestine activities to the open administration of urban zones. The presence of these checkpoints disrupts essential services and isolates thousands of residents from the city's formal infrastructure.
The influence of these groups is concentrated in the western zone of Rio de Janeiro city and extends into Niterói [1]. According to reports from 2024, criminal organizations now control almost 20% of the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region [1]. This control is not merely symbolic; it is enforced through physical barriers that divide neighborhoods, and dictate who may enter or leave specific areas.
There are 53 distinct zones and neighborhoods currently affected by these barricades [1]. These checkpoints allow factions to monitor the movement of residents and outsiders, a tactic used to both protect their drug-selling operations and extract resources from the local population.
Residents living in these affected areas must navigate a complex web of rules imposed by the armed groups. These informal laws govern daily life, often replacing the authority of the state with the dictates of faction leaders. The result is a fragmented city where movement is contingent upon the approval of criminal entities.
Local authorities have struggled to dismantle these barriers due to the high level of armed resistance. The persistence of these checkpoints suggests that the factions have successfully established a parallel governance structure in these regions [1].
“Criminal organizations control almost 20% of the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region.”
The emergence of physical barricades in Rio de Janeiro represents the 'territorialization' of crime, where gangs transition from selling illicit goods to exercising sovereign-like control over geography. This creates a security vacuum where the state loses the ability to provide basic safety and mobility, effectively creating no-go zones within a major global city.
