U.S. sanctions Brazil’s largest drug trafficking group
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on individuals and companies linked to drug trafficking groups, including Brazil’s largest criminal organization, known as the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital).
The move stems from new authority under an executive order from President Joe Biden to “target any foreign person involved in drug trafficking activities, irrespective of whether they are linked to a specific kingpin or cartel,” the agency said in a statement.
The PCC is one of 15 organizations and 10 individuals sanctioned in 4 nations, including Shanghai Fast-Fine Chemicals in China and Los Rojos in Mexico, among others. Individuals and companies linked to the sanctioned targets could be barred from using the U.S. financial system, said Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Brian Nelson.
“We will continue to work closely with our allies to reduce threats from these groups and dismantle their business models,” Nelson said.
The PCC was founded in the prisons of the wealthy state of São Paulo and remains the dominant group there. It has expanded its operations to other Brazilian states, as well as other regions of South America and abroad.
Security experts in Brazil say the PCC’s top leadership sees violence as an obstacle to its business model in large cities, but is willing to use it when it feels it is necessary.
This has been the case repeatedly in neighboring Paraguay, a key country for the PCC’s cocaine and marijuana smuggling routes. The Brazilian group has been involved in several murders in border towns in recent years as it seeks total control of the area.
The most recent violence event linked to the PCC in the region occurred in October, when 4 people were gunned down in the Paraguayan city of Pedro Juan Caballero. One of the victims was the local governor’s daughter. Paraguayan police said at the time that the Brazilian criminal organization was involved.
The PCC is “the most powerful organized criminal group in Brazil and one of the most powerful in the world,” the Treasury said in its statement. “It has forged a bloody path of dominance through drug trafficking, as well as money laundering, extortion, murder-for-hire, and drug debt collection.”
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