Summary
The National Secretariat of Penal Policies (SENAPPEN) presented a report to map the confirmed criminal organizations (Orcrims) in Brazil. The report featured research which was measured through qualitative and quantitative analysis within the Brazilian prison system to understand the reality of Orcrims both on the street and inside the penitentiaries.
The past mapping of large criminal organizations was a complicated process due to the lack of information and communication across state lines. However, The Directorate of Penitentiary Intelligence (DIPEN) has gained resources, structure, and a body of analysts in the 26 Brazilian states increasing the value and execution of penitentiary intelligence since 2022[1].
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Orcrims: Definition, Origin, and Operation Inside Prision
Based on a definition presented by the survey, Orcrims are organized groups that bring together mainly adults with a criminal history and function as organizations of illicit activity. Its conformation is hierarchical and permanent, with stable leadership that imposes itself through force and/or criminal skill. Such groups aim at illicit enrichment and prestige. Amongst their activities, they participate in drug trafficking, smuggling and embezzlement, theft and robbery of vehicles, cargo and armored cars, robbery of banks and other financial institutions (Schabbach, 2008; 57).
Orcrims are established both inside prisons and on the streets, the latter typically happens as a result of social, economic and other factors with no correlation to the prison system. However, many of them form due to poor prison conditions which in turn expands to the territories of cities due to a non-linear relationship between the members.
From a Criminophysics perspective, organized crime and criminal networks emerge as a self-organization among various criminal particles where members focus on self-preservation and safety within the walls of a prison. In other words, the prison conditions create a form of inmate consciousness where the prisoners’ group together to fight the injustices they perceive daily.
An example of this is the emergence of the Red Command (CV), Brazil’s oldest faction and the second largest in the country. The faction was formed in the maximum-security prison on Ilha Grande from an alliance between common criminals and leftist guerrillas in 1979. These two groups were incarcerated together and as a result of the terrible prison conditions, the groups needed to cooperate in order to survive the system. The guerillas had a hierarchy, organizational structure and an ideology, creating an organized group within the prison. The CV then expanded to the streets of Rio de Janeiro where the members outside the prison provided funding for the inmates through low-level crimes, such as bank robbery, so the members on the inside could finance escape attempts and maintain a decent quality of life. These low-level crimes progressed to offenses such as drug trafficking and extortion, later evolving into the current international criminal group.
Based on the information collected by DIPEN, SENAPPEN was able to determine the origins, actions, and correlations between Orcrims within the penal system. The result was a panorama of the complex network of 72 Ocrims confirmed in Brazil.
How the Research Was Conducted and the Results Obtained
The information for the report was accumulated through questionnaires focused on Orcrims operating in the prisons sent to members of the penitentiary system and further analysis of data. The objective of the surveys was to identify, classify and characterize the Orcrims in each state to produce an analytical report.
Public spending and efforts to organize the intelligence service in the prison system and formally identify these groups have been increasing, leading to a better understanding of the overall scenario. Compared to the first version of this work, the agency managed to identify 14 new criminal organizations in the country from 2022-2023.
Based on the current information available, the recent report issued by SENAPPEN was able to classify four categories of Orcrims by understanding the organization’s stage of development. The classification goes as follows:
- Starter: the embryo of most Orcrims before expansion;
- Local: when organizations succeed in emerging locally, while being confined to a certain area, such as a neighborhood or several sectors of the same metropolitan region;
- Regional: when these groups expand more and start to operate in multiple regions and are known in the areas they operate in with many members;
- National/Faction: the pinnacle of Orcrims with activities that affect bordering countries and operate in several Brazilian states.
SENAPPEN calculated that of the 72 Orcrims impacting the prison system, the First Capital Command (PCC) in Sao Paulo and the Red Command (CV) in Rio de Janeiro comprise 70% of the incarcerated Orcrim members in their respective states of origin.
While other Orcrims total between 10%-40% of their members in the prison system, other criminal organizations are also powerful in their states of operation. Examples are: Bonde do Maluco (BDM) which originated in Bahia; Os Manos (The Brothers), this faction operates mostly in Porto Alegre; Sindicato do Crime (Crime Syndicate), who originated in Rio Grande do Norte; Familia Terror do Amapá (The Amapá Terror Family), active in the state of Amapá; and Bonde dos 40 which was created in São Luís. The map demonstrates which criminal organizations operate in the different states.
By utilizing algorithms to detect elements with similar characteristics within the Orcrims, it was determined that there are 11 groups that correlate with one another which creates a ‘social network’ for criminal organizations. This algorithm drew conclusions based on alliances, enemies and leaders.
Additionally, the algorithm demonstrates a significant volume of data where the Orcrims PCC and CV have overlapping relations with each other. This correlation may be explained by an overlap in the areas they operate in, common enemies as well as through the rivalry between the two factions. The graph below shows the different Orcrims in relation to another based on the algotrim. While a large amount of data has been collected on this topic, there may still be discrepancies in the results due to lack of informed data.
The most frequent crimes committed in relation to the prison system by Orcrims are 33% public property attacks, 17% attacks against public servants, 9% rescue of inmates in units, 5% riots and 4% rescue of inmates in transit. As shown in the graph.
By a rule of association and data analysis parallels were drawn between resources available to a specific Orcrim. It is determined that, for example, if an Orcrim has impact and financial power they are likely to have access to a practicing lawyer and defined status as well.
[1] The Directorate of Penitentiary Intelligence (DIPEN) is one of the directorates that make up the organizational structure of the National Secretariat for Penal Policies (SENAPPEN). It acts as the central body responsible for integrating the State Penitentiary Intelligence Agencies and the Intelligence of the Federal Penitentiary System, in addition to promoting the implementation, implementation and expansion of penitentiary intelligence services and providing dialogue and data integration with other security intelligence bodies Brazilian public.
