The Brazilian drug war is an ongoing conflict fought mainly between police militias, drug cartels and federal (or state) security forces in Brazil.
Background
Organized crime is heavily intertwined with the geography of the largest cities in Brazil, particularly in their poorest neighborhoods, commonly known as favelas. Many Brazilian cities have their wealthiest and most tourist-driven communities located close to informal neighborhoods that face high rates of poverty, drug addiction, unemployment, violence and homelessness; This extreme economic inequality and lack of proper social services in these areas facilitates the formation and survival of organized crime, which is present in every Brazilian state. Residents of these neighborhoods frequently face social stigma, which is commonly intertwined with racism, social segregation and class discrimination; The lack of both proper education and formal job opportunities caused by this social discrimination also causes organized crime to grow even further.
Criminal organizations often rely heavily on relationships with both political and state actors to advance their influence. These relations usually involve large-scale corruption, such as bribery and the use of informal favours or personal connections to achieve control over many government institutions, such as the police and judiciary. Members of some security forces, particularly of the Civil and Military polices, have also formed their own criminal organizations, popularly known as "militias". Large businesses, particularly in the finance, real estate and oil sectors, are also known to be heavily intertwined with organized crime in Brazil, in many cases using shell companies and other means to perform money laundering for these organizations.
Despite these known links between state forces and organized crime, public opinion, especially among the upper and upper middle classes, is largely in favour of the state using armed force to combat these criminal organizations. This is also exacerbated by many sensationalist TV programs, which use explicit and violent imagery to amplify these sentiments throughout the country. Despite their own links to criminal organizations, many far-right political candidates have also taken advantage of this situation to be elected into public office.
Rio de Janeiro
Beginning with rackets such as Jogo do Bicho, Rio de Janeiro has had many incidents of collusion among criminal organizations and social and political institutions. Following the military dictatorship, political tools originally used by the regime, such as the Cândido Mendes prison complex, created the first prison gangs in Rio in the late 1970s-early 1980s. With the subsequent cocaine boom in South America, these gangs would go on to unite or incorporate smaller street gangs and other groups, while also dominating the drug market and capitalizing off it within favela communities. Heightened tensions for control of these neighborhoods contributed to turf wars and new factions of organized crime forming.
Drug policy in Brazil
Laws prohibiting the recreational use of drugs, such as cannabis, coca and opium, were introduced to the Penal Code of Brazil in 1940, when certain narcotic drugs were criminalized within Brazilian territory through the 1940 Penal Code (Law No. 2,848/1940), as set forth in Article 281:
To import or export, sell or offer for sale, supply—even gratuitously—transport, carry, keep in storage, store, administer, or in any way deliver for consumption any narcotic substance, without authorization or in violation of legal or regulatory provisions.
This article rendered these drugs illegal and thus authorized police powers and regulatory bodies to impose sanctions on users and traffickers of illicit drugs. Even before their legal prohibition, narcotic drugs were already shrouded in prejudice—particularly racial prejudice, such as in the case of marijuana, which was nicknamed "Angola weed", because it was mainly used by adherents of Afro-Brazilian religions in their rituals.
In 1973, when Brazil acceded to the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the "war on drugs" shifted its approach; the new drug policies clearly defined the penalties and consequences associated with possessing, purchasing, or selling these substances. It was in the Brazilian state's interest to marginalize and prohibit narcotics, given that during the 1968 student marches against the military dictatorship, drugs had been used as a symbol of resistance against the regime—and, due to the lack of clear penalties, users faced neither prosecution nor punishment.
Major events
Rio drug war
The militias emerged in the mid-late 1990s, being composed mainly of off-duty police officers and ex-military, in many cases also receiving assistance from local businessmen and residents looking for protection from criminal groups. The Comando Vermelho, as a response, began carrying out terrorist attacks against civilian targets between 27 and 31 December 2006, during these attacks, 19 people died, being 10 civilians, 2 policemen and 7 gang members. As retaliation, the militias conducted several raids against the Comando Vermelho, killing more than 100 gang members. These groups launched several attacks between January 2007 and March 2008 against Comando Vermelho, conquering the Cidade Alta favela on 4 February, three days later it was recaptured by the Comando Vermelho commanded by Gilberto Martins da Silva (known as "Mineiro da Cidade Alta"), with at least 20 gang members being killed in subsequent clashes. The militias obtained a "Caveirão" (an armored vehicle used by the Battalion of Special Police Operations (BOPE) for high-risk operations) in January of the same year.
According to some investigations, the militias mainly finance their armed struggle with illegal activities, such as extortion, kidnapping, loan sharking, racketeering, gambling, pimping, contract killing and arms trafficking. In May 2008, the militias, commanded by Coronel Jairo, kidnapped and tortured a group of journalists from the Brazilian newspaper O Dia who were reporting the criminal activities perpetrated by the militiamen. After 7 hours of torture, they were released. In that same month, in clashes between the Comando Vermelho and the militias, 10 people were killed. Residents were threatened by the fighting groups and the president of an association for local residents was kidnapped and subsequently disappeared. On 5 August, one of the leaders of the militia, Carlos Alexandre Silva Cavalcante, known as "Gaguinho", was killed. On 20 August 2008, the militias carried out a massacre which resulted in the death of 7 people in the Carobinha favela in a false flag operation aiming to frame the Comando Vermelho for the massacre. There was also an attempt to enforce the political candidacy of Carminha Jerominho, daughter of Jerônimo Guimarães Filho, alias "Jerominho", the leader of a militia faction.
On 5 October, "Mineiro da Cidade Alta" was killed by the militias for the murder of several militia members. From 2007 to 2008, three politicians were arrested for providing support to the militias: Josinaldo Francisco da Cruz (known as "Nadinho de Rio das Pedras"), Natalino José Guimarães and his brother Jerônimo Guimarães. On 9 June 2009, Josinaldo Francisco da Cruz was killed. Despite initially being opposed to drug trafficking, many militia groups (such as the "Liga da Justiça" faction) have allied themselves with cartels like the TCP, while also recruiting many former drug traffickers, informants and ex-convicts into their ranks, sometimes through coercion.
Invasion of Morro dos Macacos
The Morro dos Macacos is one of the most violent favelas in Rio de Janeiro, the community was invaded by CV on 17 October 2009, while it was still under the control of ADA, who clashed with Comando Vermelho members to contend for territory, 5 gang members were killed in the clashes from 11 to 17 October. In order to stop the clashes between the two groups, about 150 assault troops of the Special Operations Department of the Polícia Militar were dispatched for security purposes. In an attempt to prevent the intervention of the police in the ongoing feud, criminals built makeshift barricades at several key points and subsequently set them on fire.
On 17 October, in the morning, the rear propeller of a Fenix helicopter patrolling above the community was shot and severely damaged by drug traffickers of Amigos dos Amigos. According to some sources, the weapons used in the attack were a bazooka and several machine guns. The helicopter crashed, killing 2 soldiers on impact, with another soldier later dying of his wounds. This attack sparked widespread retaliations by police and militias against drug cartels and civilians in the region, with massacres occurring from 17 to 25 October 2009, resulting in at least 45 deaths. During these attacks, Brazilian authorities admitted to corruption and brutality among the police force, including the illegal release of two narcos perpetrated by some policemen; confirming also the existence of these armed militias who compete against drug traffickers and gangs for control of the drug market.
Formation of the UPP
The Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora (Pacifying Police Units) or UPP was a security program in Rio de Janeiro that aimed to reclaim favelas from criminal organizations, such as CV, ADA, and TCP, through community policing. The strategy worked in two parts: deployment of the Military Police of Rio (PMERJ) into the favelas, and then increasing the amount of police officers who were meant to interact with the community through units, in hopes of creating a healthier relationship between favela residents and law enforcement than what existed in years prior. For decades, interactions with police in Rio de Janeiro were abrasive; violent conflicts between drug traffickers and the police led to widespread civilian casualties, and numerous instances of abuses of power by the police led to a general distrust by favela residents. The creation of the UPP aimed to both restructure the police force and its interactions with civilians, while also deterring criminal activity leading up to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. A secondary component of the UPP plan was the creation of UPP Social, which aimed to address the social welfare needs of the favelas by UPP units. This included improvements to sanitation, education, and healthcare, among other social issues.
In 2008, the first UPP was set up in the Santa Marta favela, with more quickly following -- coalescing in 32 units overall, spanning all of Rio de Janeiro's zones (though most were located in Zona Norte). Despite urges for increased financial support, the UPP units amassed praise in their early years for evident decreases in both visible crime and violence within the favelas they were operating in. Because military presence was a precursor to actual UPP units, many drug traffickers fled occupied favelas to avoid persecution or capture by the Military Police tactical unit, BOPE. Because of this, crime rates significantly dropped for a couple years. In interviews with residents, details of the freedoms they were allowed once UPP units were installed continued to highlight the successes of the project.
Amarildo Souza, UPP abuses and backsliding
Despite early success, some of the main hindrances of the UPP project were police abuses and disappearances that occurred. One of the most prominent cases of this was the disappearance of Amarildo Souza, a bricklayer from the Rocinha favela. Souza, 42, had been fishing the morning of his disappearance and decided to go into the favela to get produce when he was confronted by UPP officers. Souza was taken for questioning and subsequently never returned home.