PCC Plans to Steal Guns from Brazilian Courthouses, According to Police

07/27/2018 - 12h49

Based on intercepted telephone calls, the civil police of São Paulo suspect members of the Brazilian criminal faction PCC are planning a series of attacks on the country's courthouses to steal firearms held by court.

According to the conversations intercepted, criminals mention an order given by their leaders to map courthouses across the country which may have "tools" - that is how they refer to the guns.

	FOLHA DE S.PAULO
	Courthouse in Diadema, São Paulo

Such instructions, according to the police report obtained by Folha, allegedly came from Presidente Venceslau (countryside of São Paulo) where leaders of the criminal faction are held in jail, including Marco Camacho, known as Marcola, considered the main head of the group by the police and the prosecutor office.

Criminals have been ordered to collect information about buildings and addresses, and then send pictures of those places to be used in future actions.

"Such information will lay the groundwork for the group's actions aimed at the robbery of firearms kept in courts throughout Brazil," states the document.

PCC has been at war against rival criminal factions since 2016, including the CV (Comando Vermelho). Police believe that PCC intends to use any guns they may obtain to arm members in other states.

One of the main members responsible for controlling the operation, according to the police, was Wanderson Pessoa Lima, known as Confusão; he was identified in calls with members from other states, and demands they collect the information swiftly.

Translated by ANA BEATRIZ DEMARIA

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