“The PCC has acquired commercial establishments, real estate, and there has even been talk of investments in football teams. This is a clear warning,” stated the consultant cited by a news outlet, without specifying the commercial establishments, real estate, or alleged football teams involved.
Roberto Uchôa noted that the largest organized crime organization in Latin America is already active in other sectors in Portugal beyond drug trafficking.
“The PCC is already involved in digital crimes, money laundering, and logistical operations. There are many ongoing investigations,” he indicated.
The consultant recalled a case from 2023 in which the Portuguese Judicial Police (PJ) and the Brazilian Federal Police conducted a joint operation to investigate the possible involvement of criminal factions in the Consulate-General of Portugal in Rio de Janeiro.
“The Portuguese government, in partnership with the Brazilian Federal Police, dismantled a corruption scheme in the Portuguese Consulate in Rio de Janeiro. Members of the PCC and the Comando Vermelho paid consulate employees to obtain falsified nationality documents. The goal was to allow members of these organizations to legally settle in Portugal,” he recalled.
Nevertheless, Roberto Uchôa emphasized the advances in cooperation between Brazil and Portugal.
“The Federal Police has attachés in various embassies, working to connect with local authorities. In some countries, such as Portugal, this cooperation is even more profound, with direct information exchange,” he said.
In July, the director of the Brazilian Federal Police stated that there is no reason for the alarm being created around the presence of Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) members in Portugal.
“In our assessment, there is no reason for this alarm of the magnitude being spread, which often has ulterior motives,” said Andrei Rodrigues in response to queries, on the sidelines of the Lisbon Forum in the Portuguese capital.
The director of the Brazilian Federal Police reiterated that there is no reason for the alarm over the presence of PCC members in Portugal.
Lusa | 16:12 – 04/07/2025
When questioned by Lusa, the director did not provide specific numbers of Brazilian criminal organization members present in Portugal but highlighted the “fluidity of information that allows a calm assessment of the situation.”
These statements align with those made in a joint interview with Lusa and Efe, also in July, by the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, assuring that the presence of Brazilian criminal factions in Portugal are “episodic situations,” while acknowledging “today’s organized crime is international.”
“The presence of potential Brazilian criminal factions in Portugal and vice-versa are episodic situations, not a structural collaboration,” he said on the sidelines of the Lisbon Forum, which gathers hundreds of Brazilian personalities in the Portuguese capital.
The consultant challenged these statements by Brazilian officials: “This declaration drew attention and was countered by prosecutor Lincoln Gakiya, one of the leading experts on the PCC in Brazil, who lives under escort due to threats he receives.
“I’m not saying there is direct involvement by the minister or the director with organized crime. But there is diplomatic management involved, an attempt not to project Brazil as a focus of international instability. However, at a micro level, the problem is very real,” he asserted.
The PCC emerged three decades ago in São Paulo prisons and is present throughout Brazil and much of South America, especially Paraguay and Bolivia.
Meanwhile, the Comando Vermelho was created in 1979 in Rio de Janeiro prisons and is now one of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations.
