The richest city in Brazilian agribusiness, Sorriso, has since 2022 become the epicenter of a war between criminal factions that has transformed it into the city with the most violent deaths in the Brazilian Center-West and one of the leaders in the country’s ranking. The crimes above are attributed by the Military Police to the battle between the two major criminal groups of Brazil. The second to last week of 2023 had at least 5 homicides likely connected to the fight.
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The War
There is a war involving the Red Command (CV), a faction that dominates the state, and the First Capital Command (PCC), which arrived in the city in 2022 to ally itself with a local faction that ended up incorporated by the group originating from São Paulo. Last year, the city recorded 78 violent deaths, according to data from the Brazilian Public Security Forum. The great majority of the cases are connected to the war.
The City
Sorriso is a young city of 37 years only, with a population that is growing well above the national average due to agribusiness and holds the title of richest in the sector in the country. It has 110,635 inhabitants, compared to 66,521 in the 2010 Census – a 66.31% increase in just over a decade – and, despite this, it is easy to find jobs. The wealth generated by soy and corn stimulated the local economy quickly and attracted criminal groups looking for new consumer markets.
The Beginning
In April 2022, a war broke out between the CV and the PCC, which led to a wave of violence never seen before in this rural city. The problem originated when the CV, dominant in Mato Grosso, due to internal disagreements ordered the death of some of its members in Sorriso. In response, these members met with other criminals not belonging to the faction and created the so-called Castelar’s Troop (Tropa do Castelar).
This new group had information about CV’s businesses through traitors, which resulted in a series of conflicts and deaths in the following months. The PCC appeared months later, helping the Castelar’s Troop, which ended up being annexed by the PCC.
Even though the PCC has always existed in the border region with Bolivia, it remained concerned with the road route to transport drugs to São Paulo and Paraná, which passes through Sorriso. Weakening the CV in the region was a way of guaranteeing a free path for drug traffic entering the country across the border.
Analysis:
As drug trafficking gangs look for new markets, ways to secure routes to transport drugs and firearms, in addition to connections that solidify their businesses, they keep naturally expanding all over the country. This process has led the two major groups, Red Command (CV) and First Capital Command (PCC), to be present in at least 24 states and the Federal District, according to Justice and Public Security Ministry. However, the results of their presence in each city, but mostly in each state, will depend on several factors, such as geography – physical and social –; presence of a rich consumer market; urban landscape; presence of ports, airports and important roads and borders; the presence of powerful and belligerent rivals. In some areas, they can become more “low profile” and avoid armed clashes, which is the case of PCC in São Paulo state. Whereas the CV, in Rio de Janeiro is quite dependent on constant heavy weaponry and do not shy away from fighting the police and rivals. Even though still quite far from the same scale, other states have provided, at least temporarily, some of the necessary elements to replicate the kind of violence seen in Rio de Janeiro. Recently, it has been the case with Bahia, a state engulfed by a gangs’ war. Sorriso, in Mato Grosso, a rich city fueled by money coming from the agribusiness, and relatively close to the border with Bolivia – important factors –, seem to be a new hotspot of the same phenomenon.
Source: Folha de SP.
