Amazonas state capital Manaus records over 40 attacks by criminal gang in one day

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least 29 vehicles, 7 bank branches and 8 public buildings had been targeted in attacks ordered by a criminal gang by Monday afternoon, June 7, in Manaus and Amazonas inland cities. According to the Public Safety Secretariat, 18 buses, 2 police cars, 2 trucks and an ambulance were burned among the vehicles.

By late afternoon, 31 people had been arrested, including 2 drug traffickers in a leading position in the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) faction. An 11-year-old child was arrested, accused of working as a “lookout” for traffickers.

Inland, attacks were registered in Iranduba, Parintins, Careiro, Manacaparu, Carauari, and Rio Preto da Eva. Governor Wilson Lima (PSC) requested the federal government to send National Security Force troops to Manaus, which were hoped to arrive on Tuesday, June 8. The Ministry of Justice and Public Safety reported that the request is being assessed.

State and municipal public services, including schools, on Monday stopped in Manaus. Public transport, paralyzed since Sunday, began to partially operate in the early afternoon, but only until 7 PM. Vaccination against the Covid-19 was also suspended.

Read also: Brazilian state of Amazonas asks for National Force police after wave of attacks

According to State Secretary of Public Safety Louismar Bonates, over 400 checkpoints were installed throughout the city to approach and search vehicles. The actions have the support of Federal Highway Police officers from Roraima state. Another team is expected to come from Rio de Janeiro to intensify patrols in inland cities.

According to the secretary, the attacks were ordered from inside a prison facility following the death in a police operation of drug trafficker Erick Batista Costa, “Dadinho”, 30 years old, on Saturday, June 5, in the Redenção neighborhood. He was a member of the Comando Vermelho. The Rio de Janeiro faction began to dominate drug trafficking in Manaus, after a war in the dispute of trafficking routes with the Família do Norte (North Family) faction.

Comando Vermelho

Comando Vermelho is a Brazilian criminal organization engaged primarily in arms and drug trafficking. The group, originally known as Falange Vermelha (“Red Phalanx”), was formed in 1979 as an alliance between ordinary convicts and leftist militants who were incarcerated together during the military dictatorship of 1964–1985. In the early 1980s, the group changed its name to Comando Vermelho and is believed to have abandoned most of its far-left political ideology.

The Comando Vermelho controls parts of Rio de Janeiro and has fought several small-scale conflicts (in 2001 and 2004) with the rival gang Terceiro Comando which itself emerged from a power struggle amongst the leaders of Comando Vermelho during the mid-1980s.

The organization is a collection of independent cells rather than having a strict hierarchy, however prominent bosses include Luiz Fernando da Costa and Isaias da Costa Rodrigues.