Former police chief’s killing may signal high-profile PCC return

Ruy Ferraz Fontes spent his career battling Brazil’s most powerful criminal organization, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (First Command of the Capital, or PCC). On August 15, the former São Paulo police chief was gunned down in the middle of the street, in a coastal city long known as a haven for fugitives.

Fontes, 68, was killed in Praia Grande when gunmen ambushed his car and opened fire with assault rifles. Surveillance footage showed a chase ending with his vehicle crashing into a bus. The attackers emerged wearing bulletproof vests and carrying heavy weapons, shooting him at close range before fleeing.