Massive police operation targets Brazil’s biggest crime gang

On Tuesday morning, law enforcement from 11 states in Brazil launched a massive sting operation comprising 212 arrest and search and seizure warrants targeting members of the notorious First Command of the Capital (PCC) organized crime gang — the largest of its kind in the country. Over 1,000 police officers knocked on doors across 71 cities in the states of Alagoas, Pernambuco, Ceará, Bahia, Paraíba, Sergipe, Piauí, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul, São Paulo, and Minas Gerais.

The operation sought to dismantle a new wing of the criminal faction, based in Mato Grosso do Sul and in charge of the PCC’s so-called ‘crime tribunal,’ by which the gang orders the executions of rivals around the country, often within prisons.

Tuesday’s operation was the second phase of Operation Flashback, which began in November 2019 and resulted in the imprisonment of 81 people across eight states. This subsequent stage is led by the Justice Ministry, with the participation of the Federal Police and state law enforcement.

The investigations that culminated in Tuesday’s arrests highlighted the participation of an increased number of women members of the PCC,...