TRANSNATIONAL CRIME

Brazil’s crime cartels: across borders and into boardrooms

Organized crime gangs take advantage of Brazil’s porous borders to move drugs and arms. Pictured above, the triple Brazil-Colombia-Peru border in Letícia, Colombia. Photo: Matthieu Cattin/Shutterstock

In mid-August, a joint operation by Peruvian and Brazilian police led to the arrest of Jackson Chavez de Souza, a fugitive since 2021 and on the most wanted list of Civil Police in the northern Brazilian state of Acre. Chavez de Souza, charged with drug trafficking, homicide and corruption of minors, was captured on the international highway linking Acre and Iñapari across the border in Peru.

Authorities say he is tied to the Comando Vermelho (Red Command, or CV), the Rio de Janeiro-based crime faction that has increasingly entrenched itself in Amazonian border corridors.

The arrest underscores the successes of cross-border intelligence, but such efforts struggle to keep pace with the growth of transnational crime. A study by the International Economic Association found that…

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