An internal dispute in the Family of the North gang (FDN) caused 55 deaths in Manaus prisons between Sunday (26) and Monday (27), according to public security sources.
The conflict pits two historic leaders of the gangs, both held in prisons far from the Amazonas, against each other. On one side is the 'pure' faction led by José Roberto Barbosa, the Zé Roberto da Compensa. On the other side is ex-ally João Pinto Carioca, the João Branco.
João Branco ordered the prison killings, in which prisoners were executed by strangulation or improvised weapons. Branco operates in Manaus through his wife, identified only by her first name, Sheila.
The wave of murders, which caught the Amazon public security by surprise, began at the end of the morning on Sunday during visiting hours at the Anísio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in Manaus.
This is the same prison where riots began in Manaus in the first weeks of 2017, which ended with 126 dead in the Amazonas, Roraima and Rio Grande do Norte.
At that time, the FDN, still united, launched an offensive against the PCC (First Command in the Capital) in Manaus. In response, the Sao Paulo faction, now inactive in Amazonas, massacred the FDN and its allies in Roraima.
Once FDN defeated its biggest rival in Amazonas, the gang began to crack - police say the gang has been behind several murders in Manaus in recent years, but it disputes this.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon