Brazil’s organized crime groups (OCGs) encapsulate today’s trends in serious and organized crime. They are the main reason that Brazil, which borders three cocaine-producing nations, 32 has the world’s highest homicide rate. The leading OCG in Brazil is Primeiro Comando da Capital (First Capital Command, usually known as PCC), but there are numerous other large and active groups. These include Comando Vermelho (Red Command, or CV), which became a PCC rival in 2016 leading to bloody battles in Rio’s slum districts, or favelas, 33 and Familia do Norte (Family of the North, or FDN). PCC itself, which may have up to 30,000 members, 34 was founded in 1993 within Taubate Penitentiary 3 but has been particularly active since 2006, when it launched a series of lethal attacks against São Paulo's Military Police. Even though many members are in prison, poor prison discipline and easy access to cell phones allow leaders to mastermind activities from behind bars. OCGs succeed in Brazil in part due to the belief that they take care of ordinary citizens in ways governments can’t. During COVID-19, PCC oversaw curfews and price controls in the favelas to curb the spread of the disease. 36, 37 OCGs provide income in the face of massive unemployment and fight dangerous, unhealthy prison conditions. 38 Another factor fueling OCG dominance in Brazil is the rising middle class, which has led to a demand for commodities unavailable through legitimate means. 39 PCC is run like a multinational corporation with leaders appointed for each of the organization’s divisions, such as money laundering, drug sales, and bank robbery. This tight business model has let it grow to become the dominant force in South and Central America and has facilitated its global expansion. Other OCGs, like CV, are more loosely organized. As with OCGs elsewhere, Brazilian OCGs are expanding both geographically and in the realm of poly-criminality. Geographic expansion: Brazilian OCGs originated due to the country’s central location to the cocaine trade. However, in recent years, beyond expanding into easy-access markets within South America, Brazilian OCGs have become more aggressive, expanding to control cocaine trade routes even in Africa and Europe. 40 Multi-modal crime: Brazilian OCGs have shifted from their early focus on the drug trade. Today, they’re involved in a wide range of criminal activities, including human trafficking, global cybercrime, 41, 42 and environmental crimes such as smuggling mercury, 43 an insidious environmental toxin used in refining gold. COG8 SIDEBAR: BRAZILIAN ORGANIZED CRIME 32 https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/lessons-from-organised-crime-task-forces-brazil-and-beyond/ 33 https://americasquarterly.org/article/red-command/ 34 https://americasquarterly.org/article/transnational-crime-pcc/ 35 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Marcos-Alan-S-V-Ferreira-2/publication/328747324_Brazilian_criminal_organizations_as_transnational_violent_non-state_actors_a_case_36 study_of_the_Primeiro_Comando_da_Capital_PCC/links/5c335df9458515a4c713f034/Brazilian-criminal-organizations-as-transnational-violent-non-state-actors-a-case-study-of- the-Primeiro-Comando-da-Capital-PCC.pdf 36 https://americasquarterly.org/article/new-aq-the-pandemics-big-winner-transnational-crime/ 37 https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/covid/RB_COVID_organized_crime_july13_web.pdf 38 https://insightcrime.org/brazil-organized-crime-news/family-of-the-north-fdn/ 39 https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Europol_OrgCrimeReport_web-final_0.pdf 40 https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/08/08/brazilian-organized-crime-is-all-grown-up/ 41 https://www.osac.gov/Content/Report/e2e8a425-32bf-45f5-aa49-18aceb1e211e 42 https://americasquarterly.org/article/the-other-mutating-virus-the-pandemic-and-organized-crime/ 43 https://insightcrime.org/news/dirty-business-smuggling-pipeline-carrying-mercury-amazon/ 13