Brazil's biggest drug cartel promises a 'World Cup of terror' as violent demonstrations take over the streets
- The threat was issued by the First Capital of the Command in Sao Paulo
- Gang was behind the murder of more than a hundred of the city's police
- Last night violent demonstrations exploded on the streets of Brazil
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
PUBLISHED: 09:50 GMT, 16 October 2013 | UPDATED: 13:50 GMT, 16 October 2013
PUBLISHED: 09:50 GMT, 16 October 2013 | UPDATED: 13:50 GMT, 16 October 2013
Threat: The head of the PCC gang Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho is serving a life sentence for the murder of a judge in 2003
Brazil's biggest drug cartel has promised a 'World Cup of terror' next year - in a reminder of the high level of violence that still marks the country.The threat was issued by the First Capital Command in Sao Paulo, who last year was behind the murder of more than a hundred of the city's police officers. And last night violent demonstrations exploded on the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo with protesters setting fire to cars and fighting pitched battles with police.The protests were in support of a teachers' strike and were the latest in a long line of unrest that has seen millions take to the streets in Brazil to protest against the government.
Both will be a sobering reminder amid the euphoria of England's fans that next year they will be travelling to a country where safety and stability cannot be guaranteed. Six matches in next year's competition, including the opening game, will be held at the Arena de Sao Paulo while seven, including the final, will be held in Rio de Janeiro's Estadio do Maracana.In messages intercepted by police this week, leaders of the gang in Sao Paulo made the vague but ominous threat should the authorities move jailed members of the cartel to a tougher prison.
In Brazil, powerful gangs often linked to the drug trade are very powerful and frequently control whole prisons and favelas, or shanty towns.
Warning: In messages intercepted by police this week, leaders of the gang in Sao Paulo made the vague but ominous threat should the authorities move jailed members of the cartel to a tougher prison (file phto)
Enraged: Efforts to transfer high-ranking imprisoned members of the gang, known by its Portuguese initials PCC enraged the gang in 2006 (file photo)
Since 2002, the PCC has been led by Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, known as Marcola, or 'Playboy.' He is serving a life sentence for the murder of a judge in 2003
The gang have nicknames including Wander Eduardo 'Fat Face' Ferrari, Isaias 'Weird' Moreira do Nascimento and Antonio 'Ugly Beast' Carlos dos Santos. During 2012, a war broke out between the gang and Sao Paulo's Military Police. They felt the government had violated an informal agreement, long denied by officials, to slow the prison transfers of gang leaders and limit crackdowns on its operations on Sao Paulo's outskirts in exchange for an end to gang violence.
Threat: Brazil's biggest drug cartel has promised a 'World Cup of terror' next year - in a reminder of the high level of violence that still marks the country
Battle: Last night violent demonstrations exploded on the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo with protesters setting fire to cars and fighting pitched battles with police
Anger: The protests across Brazil last night were in support of a teachers' strike
Tension: The protests were the latest in a long line of unrest that has seen millions take to the streets in Brazil to protest against the government
The gang ordered attacks on police, 106 officers - many off-duty - were killed.In the protests in Rio de Janeiro, a group of masked youths attacked shops, set fire to a police car and threw petrol bombs.In Sao Paulo shops were ransacked. Police responded with tear gas, pepper spray and sound bombs. Efforts to transfer high-ranking imprisoned members of the gang, known by its Portuguese initials PCC, to far off prisons where they would have difficulty giving orders by cellphone to their soldiers on the outside enraged the gang in 2006.
Demands: Protesters oppose a pay proposal by the city's mayor, saying it doesn't go far enough in addressing their demands, according to published reports
Police open fire as the demonstrations get more violent
Injured: Demonstrators help the staff of a McDonald's store during the clash between anti-government demonstrators and riot police
Bitter: A pile of chairs are set on fire as demonstrators illustrate their frustration
Demonstrations: A protester spray paints a government building as the clashes erupt
Five days of gang-inspired attacks then left at least 175 dead, including police officers, traffickers and the innocent in between. After the violence lingered for months, an alleged informal truce between the government and the PCC slowed the transfers and the attacks tapered off.The gang was founded in 1993 by hardened criminals inside Sao Paulo's Taubate Penitentiary, but remained a relatively obscure group until early 2001, when uprisings in 29 prisons across the state killed 19 inmates. It was the biggest prison rebellion in Brazil's recent history and took police 27 hours to crush.The PCC was formed to pressure for improved prison conditions.
