Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York crime and politics while specializing on marginalized and underrepresented communities Natalie worked with news publications including Adweek She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor's in journalism either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Brazil's Amazon has been experiencing a surge in violence as criminal gangs expand their presence in over a third of municipalities in the country's rainforest region according to a report by the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety highlights the growing dominance of two powerful gangs—Red Command and First Capital Command (PCC)—in one of the world's most critical ecosystems gangs were present this year in 260 of 772 municipalities in the region The presence of "mafia-like" organizations "greatly aggravate the situation in the Legal Amazon which is now seen as a very strategic territory for transnational trafficking with the circulation of different illicit goods," the report said The Legal Amazon is an area in nine states of Brazil that's home to the largest hydrographic basin in the world president of the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety of the 260 municipalities where organized crime groups are present Lima told The Associated Press that Red Command expanded into cities in Brazil's northern region after PCC took control of the drug trafficking route via Ponta Pora a municipality on the border with Paraguay in the center-west region According to the third edition of the report titled "Cartographies of Violence in the Amazon," these monopolies in criminal activity have also contributed to a 6.2 percent reduction in violent deaths across the region from 2021 to 2023 the violence has spilled into rural areas and once-peaceful towns transforming them into hotspots of lawlessness "The internalization of violence to rural and forest areas has made small quiet municipalities some of the most violent in the country," the report said The report comes after the brutal 2022 killings of Indigenous rights advocate Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips which epitomize the grim reality of increased violence allegedly orchestrated by a Colombian fish trader opposed to Pereira's efforts and enforcement of environmental laws in the region revealed the deadly intersections of organized crime Pereira and Phillips were traveling along the Itaquai River near the entrance of the Javari Valley Indigenous Territory Former Federal Police detective Alexandre Saraiva who has firsthand experience investigating crime in the Amazon and knew both Phillips and Pereira asserts that criminal expansion has accelerated alongside a boom in illegal mining "There's no shadow of a doubt" that organized crime in the region has increased in recent years He links this growth to policies of illegal mining under former President Jair Bolsonaro Although current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has curbed deforestation his administration has struggled to dismantle entrenched drug gangs he warned that some Brazilian lawmakers and local politicians were also responsible for the situation and accused them of receiving funds from criminal groups in exchange for protection Brazil's Federal Police launched an operation targeting illegal gold trafficking tied to Indigenous lands authorities arrested nine suspects across six states these criminal groups allegedly smuggled a tonne of gold while recruiting couriers on commercial flights While this crackdown demonstrates the state's potential to act coordinated policies to address the root causes of crime and exploitation "There is no magic wand that is going to solve all the problems," he said This article includes reporting from The Associated Press Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsweek is committed to journalism that's factual and fair Hold us accountable and submit your rating of this article on the meter. Newsletters in your inbox See all A funeral Mass for Redemptorist Father John Clark Devin will be offered Dec Father Devin completed his Redemptorist novitiate at St where he was also ordained to the priesthood on June 22  Father Devin completed additional training at St was assigned to the Brazilian mission in the Vice-Province of Campo Grande where His ministerial responsibilities there included parishes the Cursillo Movement and Christian Base Communities Father Devin was an associate pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Highlandtown and assist at the former nearby chapels of St Gerard and Holy Redeemer from 1987 to 1988 John Neumann Residence at Stella Maris in Timonium since 2022 Copyright © 2024 Catholic Review Media  Print Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media Catholic Media Assocation Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association The Associated Church Press Get quality reporting directly into your inbox Paraguayan Regional Deputy Eulalio “Lalo” Gomes killed by law enforcement during raid of his home Poder Legislativo de la República del Paraguay officers carried out another raid at the home of the deputy’s son Rodríguez Gomes allegedly managed to escape initially but later turned himself in and is now under arrest Deputy Gomes and his son were charged with money laundering connected to international drug trafficking This was the first time that Paraguayan authorities had officially targeted Gomes although he had been named in several publications as an important collaborator of drug traffickers in the border area the newspaper Última Hora reported that Gomes' son attended a birthday party held on the border by businessman Darío Messer who was at the time a fugitive from Paraguayan and Brazilian justice described as a “soul brother” by former Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes—who has been sanctioned by the United States for alleged acts of corruption—is considered “the king of money launderers.” Messer has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for being one of the main financiers of the largest money laundering scheme in Latin America which later led to the Lava Jato operation in Brazil Relatives of “Lalo” Gomes told local media that police officers entered the house and practically executed Gomes They have called for an investigation to determine what really happened Pedro Juan Caballero in Paraguay and Ponta Porã in Brazil are two towns separated by just a cobblestone road Many Brazilian and Paraguayan drug traffickers have started their careers in this region Lalo Gomes was a deputy for the Colorado Party in the Amambay region with a rate of 101.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants Gomes was also a sports leader and a member of the Rural Association of Paraguay (ARP) an elite organization that brings together the country's most prominent cattle ranchers The Paraguayan prosecutor's investigation claims in its indictment that Gomes and his son were part of the money laundering scheme of the criminal organization led by Chimenes Pavão and that they collaborated with the group’s drug trafficking operations Brazilian media have reported that Gomes also had contacts with members of the “Mota clan,” led by Antonio Mota and his son “Motinha,” two Brazilian cattle ranchers investigated for drug trafficking and money laundering known as “the bosses” of the border between Paraguay and Brazil Mota was arrested by Brazilian police in February 2024 but released five days ago because of a procedural error made during his trial Support from readers like you helps OCCRP expose organized crime and corruption around the world you’ll be directly supporting investigative journalism as a public good You’ll also gain access to exclusive insights and benefits government announced new sanctions against Paraguayan tobacco company Tabacalera del Este S.A A cutting-edge facial recognition algorithm finds a “strong possibility” that an unidentified man found dead in a car in.. Paraguay extradited to the United States a man accused of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for drug traffickers.. Diálogo Américas the largest drug and arms trafficking group in Brazil lost one of its leaders who operated along the border with Paraguay 14 members of the PCC were arrested in Pedro Juan Caballero a Paraguayan city adjacent to the Brazilian municipality of Ponta Porã The criminals were in possession of five rifles “These people [eight Paraguayans and six Brazilians] were planning a coup,” said Paraguayan prosecutor Celso Morales who said the property raided was a laundromat According to intelligence from the Paraguayan National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD the planned coup was going to be an assault on a Brazilian city Among those arrested is Weslley Neres dos Santos He was appointed as the new head of the PCC in the region and had an arrest warrant since February 2021 for international arms and drug trafficking According to the Brazilian Federal Police (PF Bebezão took command of trafficking in the area following the arrest of Giovanni Barbosa da Silva in the same city where the group was found Both Bebezão and another five Brazilian arrested were turned over to the PF on March 25 which was dubbed Safe Border II (Fronteira Segura II) In addition to the team that invaded the house members of the FTC surrounded the property to stop the criminals from escaping or rescuing their cronies Operation Safe Border II was made possible thanks to investigations by SENAD’s intelligence department security authorities from both countries have been jointly conducting a series of operations in the border region which was named after fugitive Brazilian traffickers who tried to hide in Paraguayan territory For more on security and defense issues around the globe A Brazilian former prison gang is threatening to turn its neighbour into a narcostate and its deadly tentacles extend much further Fahd Jamil Georges went by many names: the Turk he went from running casinos to smuggling guns and drugs into Brazil from Paraguay – South America’s top marijuana producer and a key transit point for Andean cocaine Jamil was perhaps the final domino to fall in “Project Paraguay”, a decade-long hostile takeover of this lucrative narco-trafficking pipeline by the Primeiro Comando da Capital (First Capital Command or PCC) – a violent Brazilian cartel founded in a São Paulo jail in 1993 whose reach is fast spreading across South America and even globally The bloodletting has fuelled fears that international drug cartels in league with corrupt officials are turning comparatively tranquil Paraguay into a violent narcostate “the PCC have taken over completely,” said Lt Col Ozevaldo Santos de Melo Jamil’s downfall follows the relentless elimination of the PCC’s other rivals. In June 2016, Jorge Rafaat – a powerful drug trafficker and sometime Jamil ally – was shot dead in Pedro Juan Caballero. About 40 of his associates were subsequently murdered The PCC soon afterwards declared war on Comando Vermelho (CV) emerging victorious as the largest player in the transport of drugs into Brazil – and on to Europe where the ’Ndrangheta Calabrian mafia handles distribution Jamil was linked to several murders “The PCC are more violent … they have no scruples With figures such as Jamil and Rafaat out of the picture drive-by shootings among small-time criminals and rivals within the PCC have become more common complete with artificial lake and floodlit football pitch apparently designed to serve as a hotel for visiting Brazilian crime lords At the London Pub in Pedro Juan Caballero – which sells cold English ales and is decorated with mannequins wearing bearskins – customers are often armed making calling time a nerve-racking proposition But Zully Rolón, the director of Senad, said claims that Paraguay is fast becoming a narcostate were exaggerated Rolón denied that the PCC had been able to establish a Paraguayan foothold, pointing to the recent extradition of several cartel bosses to Brazil But Paraguay still has no radar coverage of its vast north, making it almost impossible to intercept cocaine-laden planes dispatched by the PCC from Bolivia our work would be a lot easier,” she added Marcos Camacho Photograph: Sérgio Lima/AFP/Getty ImagesAnd when a cartel leader gets arrested “the PCC just send another one from São Paulo” The PCC’s commanders are also thought to still call the shots from jail – and allegedly coordinated the assassination of Paraguay’s leading criminal prosecutor in May Marcelo Pecci was shot dead on a Colombian beach while on his honeymoon just hours after his wife had posted on social media that they were expecting their first child Four people who confessed to the crime were each sentenced to over 23 years in prison on Friday. Colombia’s police chief indicated and had paid the hitmen $500,000 to eliminate Pecci who was investigating the cartel’s links in Paraguay Three suspects are in the custody of police, who say there is no sign of a broader conspiracy, but local Indigenous activists insist that organised crime groups had a hand in the killing The cartel is also expanding elsewhere in the continent and launders profits through banks in China and the US The PCC are “the most formidable organised crime group in South America”, said Robert Muggah of the Igarapé Institute Paraguayan army soldiers are seen next to an army tank near a border prison in Pedro Juan Caballero Photograph: Gabriel Stargardter/ReutersThe cartel’s strength is based on its “legendary” level of control over its rank-and-file – who swear an oath of loyalty and even pay membership fees it “has extensively penetrated the state and co-opted the security establishment” “Brazil needs to pull back from its policy of mass incarceration” in order to dismantle the PCC’s powerbase in Brazil’s overcrowded prisons “The only long-term solution is for Brazil to accelerate the decriminalisation of drugs.” But such policies are as distant a prospect in Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil as in Paraguay where the governing conservative Colorado party has itself been regularly tied to narcotraffickers and organised crime Former president Horacio Cartes (2013-18) has repeatedly been accused of links to a vast money-laundering operation linked to cigarette smuggling and drug traffickers. Cartes, a powerful tobacco magnate, has denied any wrongdoing, saying the allegations are politically motivated are taking hold of Paraguay,” echoed Eulalio López a community leader in the poor northern region of San Pedro Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article Leo Veras was working hard to find more information about two crimes: the death of Adolfo Goncalves Camargo and the disappearance of merchant Roney Fernandes Romeiro Veras reported that police officers were investigating Genaro Lopes Martins He was known for torturing his victims and dismembering their bodies Lopes Martins is under arrest for involvement in the death of teenager Alex Zioli Areco Aquino Veras was executed with 12 shots on the night of February 12 when he was having dinner with his family at home was at Veras' house around noon on February 12 He sought out the journalist because he was preparing a petition to be handed over to the authorities during a protest that would be held in front of the Public Prosecution Office and the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Division of Punishable Cases of the National Police of Paraguay.  Veras has been committed to solving the crime with articles disclosed on his website relatives of Alex Aquino were hosted at a meeting at the Government Palace of Pedro Juan Caballero by the Minister of Interior Jose Carlos Acevedo; and the Governor of Amambay in addition to National Deputy Robert Acevedo Alex Aquino had fought at school with another teenager and shot in the head (fragments of the skull indicate the shot but the police were unable to find the projectile or cartridge) the teenager’s body was dismembered and burned.  A key witness who allegedly witnessed the student's violent execution The body was reportedly buried in Paraguay Lopes Martins reportedly received an order from Salinas Ryguaçu appointed as the boss of the PCC in that region to hand over the body and report to the police station The body parts were found in plastic bags inside a barrel in the Ponta Pora ring road.  Veras went to the Civil Police station in Ponta Pora in search of news about the investigations of the Camargo and Romeiro cases the case of Alex Aquino was remembered as similar to the other two Camargo was at home when men broke into the property and took him away It was just after 4 pm on the 16th of August 2019 his body was found dismembered in three garbage bags in a field in the Paraguayan city of Sanga Puita a shipment of 30 kilograms of cocaine allegedly from the PCC was seized by the Paraguayan police Traffickers are suspected of having blamed the victims for the loss of cargo In the Second Police Station of Ponta Pora where Camargo's execution is investigated showed the investigation to the Abraji team the investigation has not even attached the autopsy report The chief of police was unable to answer about Romeiro's disappearance Paraguayan police officers involved in the investigation of Veras' death point out as one of the reasons for his death the identification of the main head of the PCC on the border known as “Salinas Ryguaçu.” He was arrested at dawn on January 20 hours after the escape of 75 prisoners from Pedro Juan Caballero Regional prison Salinas Ryguaçu was in a Toyota SW4 truck both armed with Glock 9 mm pistols and 17,000 in cash The pair reportedly left a party – where they celebrated the mass flight of criminal allies from the prison – to buy drinks They got involved in a traffic fight at one of the avenue's roundabouts when a driver overtook Salinas's truck The PCC boss did not like it and chased the vehicle reaching the driver at an intersection ahead Salinas and his cousin got out with guns drawn saying that he was the boss and that he was in charge of the region The discussion was cut off by Brazilian police officers who were patrolling in search of fugitives from the Paraguayan prison seven kilometers from the border with Ponta Pora Salinas presented his identity as Edson Barbosa Salinas the judge on duty arbitrated an 80,000 reais bond to release the suspect where he presented ten receipts for payment of bail Salinas was ready to leave the police station by the front door but a tip passed to the Justice by the Federal Police prevented him from returning to the streets with the assistance of the Paraguayan police confirmed that the Brazilian document was fake and that the prisoner's true identity was that of Ederson Salinas Benitez rumor has it that it was Leo Veras who alerted the authorities about the true identity of the drug trafficker this would have led Salinas to give the order to execute the journalist Paraguayan gunman injured during the execution of journalist Two weeks after the murder of Brazilian journalist Lourenco "Leo" Veras family members and neighbors have yet to testify to the Paraguayan authorities formally In the operation that involved prosecutors and police in Paraguay at dawn on February 22 a white Jeep Renegade was seized – the car may have been used in the execution of Veras Pedro Juan Caballero (Photo: Angelina Nunes / Abraji) The journalist was sitting with his back to the door on the wooden table in the center of the room where his wife He was calm and had not reported any recent threat to his family two men wearing black hoodies and covering their faces – one using a black shirt and the other a black ninja cap – passed in front of Veras’ mother-in-law – who was sitting in a chair on the sidewalk – and unlocked the 9 mm Glock pistol The metallic sound caught the family's attention the witness saw the hitman dragging the injured man to the car the witness started shouting: “They took Veras in the car!" In shock hugging her daughter and followed by her father It took ten minutes of anguish and uncertainty until the 11-year-old son shouted from the yard: “Daddy is here!" It was the youngest child of the journalist who found him among the greenery but still alive and with a white cloth covering part of his face close to his mouth like a gag – a comparison made by Brazilian police officers and his family Upon realizing that Veras was still breathing relatives and neighbors unsuccessfully asked the police to take him to the hospital.  While neighbors were looking for a vehicle to help the journalist the daughter approached her father's head and asked him just to try to breathe: “We love you Veras was taken in a neighbor's car to the hospital Fourteen days after the execution of the journalist they received protection from three agents but the fear that the killers will return remains Veras lived on freelance jobs and the money he earned from selling advertising space on Pora News newspaper with the journalist's death there is uncertainty that this payment will continue Ponta Pora Cemetery (Photo: Angelina Nunes / Abraji) ::Read: Paraguayan police and Public Prosecutor’s Office arrest ten suspected traffickers and killers and seize vehicle similar to the one used in the execution of a journalist.:: ::Read: Pistol that killed Brazilian journalist in Paraguay was used in seven PCC-related executions.:: All evidence of Veras' death suggests that it is related to his work as a journalist the murder of the journalist will be the third to be included in the Tim Lopes Program with the support of the Open Society Foundations to combat violence against journalists and impunity for those responsible Whenever there is a crime related to the exercise of the profession a network of traditional and independent media outlets is activated to follow the investigations and publish reports on the allegations in which the journalist worked until he or she was killed The murder of broadcaster Jefferson Pureza was the first case followed by the program He was killed while resting on his home's porch Former councilman José Eduardo Alves da Silva was accused of being the mastermind of the killing janitor Marcelo Rodrigues dos Santos was also tried accused of referring the minors involved in the crime to the councilman the murder was negotiated for 5,000 reais and a revolver the popular jury acquitted two accused of involvement in the crime despite recognizing their participation in the case and in the corruption of minors who committed the murder The second case is that of radio broadcaster Jairo de Sousa who died in the early hours of June 21 with two shots to the chest when he arrived to work at Perola FM radio The suspect of ordering the crime is councilman Cesar Monteiro He reportedly hired a group of ten people to carry out the crime According to the records of the investigation councilman Cesar Monteiro had his preventive detention revoked after the Para Court of Justice granted him a habeas corpus There is still no date set for the popular jury Subscribe to our English language newsletter and keep up-to-date with the most important news from Brazil All materials contained in this page may not be reproduced in any media without the prior written permission of Folhapress.