On Tuesday (23), a criminal known as Magrelo was arrested in a Military Police operation. He is the leader of a group that rivals in its own “home-state” and headquarters the strongest criminal organization in Brazil, the Capital First Command (PCC). This gang disputes points of sale of drugs with the PCC and has brought terror to the Rio Claro region, a city in the interior of São Paulo, where the number of murders has doubled in recent years.
The gang caught the attention of the Public Ministry of São Paulo (MPSP) and was denounced by the Special Action Group to Combat Organized Crime (Gaeco). Magrelo is also known as Patrão and, according to authorities, he considers himself “the new Marcola”, referring to Marco Willians Herbas Camacho, the top leader of the PCC.
Ambitious Goal
One of the goals of this new criminal organization, called “Magrelo’s Gang” (Bonde do Magrelo) is to eliminate the PCC – which currently dominates São Paulo prisons and drug trafficking routes. A judge at the São Paulo Court of Justice adds that Magrelo would be involved in the death of at least 30 people in the region last year alone (2022). Data from the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) of São Paulo show that, in 2020, 20 victims were murdered in Rio Claro. The number doubled to 40 the following year, because of the gang’s performance.
Power
In the complaint, Gaeco states that they murder on public roads, in broad daylight, with automatic rifles. In addition to homicides, the gang is the target of inquiries that investigate drug trafficking activities. When Justice received the complaint offered by the Public Ministry of São Paulo (MPSP) it also granted the request for the seizure of assets worth more than R$ 12 million.
Denouncing Rivals
The MPSP’s complaint points out that Magrelo’s group is also responsible for the murders of PCC members. In addition, the gang informed the police, anonymously, about meetings and activities involving rival drug traffickers.
Action Ray
Gaeco identified, based on messages exchanged between the gang, that the gang trades drugs with at least eight cities. The dialogues were accessed after the apprehension of Apertadinho’s cell phone, another member. According to cell phone conversations, Magrelo’s gang maintains commercial contacts for the sale of drugs in Louveira, Pirassununga, Leme, Americana, Sumaré, São Carlos and Jundiaí, all in São Paulo countryside.
Our Analysis:
For specialists, this group still cannot be understood as a faction, because it still does not have the size of one. So far, eight criminals who oppose the PCC in that region and fight over territory have been identified. This ‘Patrão’ buys drugs that come from Paraguay and wants to have the power to sell in the entire region of Rio Claro, which is a rich region of São Paulo. The emergence of a new group that aims to take territories already consolidated by a criminal faction as large as the PCC brings the use of force as an inherent feature. They enforce terrorism using large caliber firearms not only to defend their territory but also to threaten rivals. The emergence of a heavily armed criminal group capable to stand toe to toe with the PCC has a drastic potential to transform the public security scenario of São Paulo, where the numbers of shootouts and homicides are much lower when compared to Rio de Janeiro and other states, particularly from the North and Northeast regions. This occurs, among other factors, due to the presence of rival groups that threaten each other. The need to maintain territories by force creates an entire logic of violence, stimulating gangs to buy more and more heavy weapons to fend off attacks and to keep a continuous war for expansion and or survival. This also leads to another consequence, the increase in violent conflicts between police forces and criminal groups, which would be then constantly well-armed.
Source: Record and Metrópoles
