Feds go after gangland ‘special ops’ group in São Paulo
Federal Police on Thursday announced an operation to dismantle a cell of a criminal organization dedicated to committing murders against rival gang members — and who had planned attacks on public officials. A total of 150 agents carried out 16 search and seizure warrants and three arrest warrants in the state of São Paulo.
As usual, the Federal Police provided few details about the operation and did not disclose the names of the targets.
However, São Paulo prosecutor Lincoln Gakiya told CNN Brasil that today’s actions were a continuation of a March investigation into a specialized cell of the First Capital Command (PCC) that planned to attack high-ranking Brazilian public officials, including Senator Sergio Moro, the former star judge of Operation Car Wash fame.
The PCC is a criminal syndicate described by the U.S. government as “the most powerful organized crime group in Brazil and among the most powerful in the world.”
Today’s Federal Police operation was codenamed “Irrestrita” (Unrestricted), a reference to “Sintonia Restrita” (Restricted Division), a kind of special operations unit within the PCC, made up of criminals who specialize in intelligence activities.
A report by prosecutors leaked to the press last week shows that PCC agents recently investigated the addresses of the heads of Brazil’s House and Senate, and obtained aerial photographs of their residences.
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