What Moro did against organized crime to become a target of the PCC

One of the targets of the attacks planned by the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), the largest criminal organization in Brazil dedicated to drug trafficking and a series of other violent crimes, Senator Sergio Moro (União Brasil-PR) is a former foe of organized crime. The Federal Police (PF) is carrying out, this Wednesday (22), 11 arrest warrants and 24 search and seizure warrants in four states against the criminal faction that, in addition to targeting Moro, intended to carry out attacks against other authorities.

One of the main episodes that provoked the anger of factions such as the PCC and the Comando Vermelho was Moro’s determination in February 2019, when he held the post of Minister of Justice in the Jair Bolsonaro government, to isolate faction leaders in federal prisons.

Throughout that year, several leaders of criminal organizations, several from the PCC, were transferred to maximum security federal prisons, where the routine is more rigid and there is no possibility of communication with the outside world.

One of those transferred was Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, Marcola. The criminal, sentenced to more than 350 years in prison for committing a series of crimes such as conspiracy, robbery, drug trafficking and homicide, is the main leader of the PCC. Before being transferred to the Federal Penitentiary in Porto Velho, Marcola commanded crimes from within Penitentiary 2 of Presidente Venceslau, administered by the government of São Paulo. In January, the criminal was transferred to the Federal Prison in Brasília after suspicion of an escape plan to free him.

In addition to Marcola, in all, more than 320 faction leaders were transferred to federal prisons as a result of Moro’s decision. The ex-minister’s order dealt a heavy blow to organized crime and caused widespread confusion in the faction’s commands.

The impact of the measure was addressed in telephone conversations between PCC leaders intercepted by the Federal Police in 2019. At the time, Alexsandro Pereira, known as Elias, accused the coup. “We took the lead. It will shake things up, because others will have to take the place of those who left, but there is also a question mark. Those who will take the place of those who left do not have the autonomy that those who left have”.

In another conversation, Elias criticizes the previous government’s conduct against organized crime and even mentions the group’s proximity to members of the Workers’ Party (PT).

“The guys started the mandate now, brother. Now that they started their mandate, they are already directly interfering with the leadership, brother. With those on the front line. So if the guys already started messing with those on the front lines, what did they come in saying? ‘With us, there’s no dialogue anymore, bro. If you were having a dialogue with others who were at the front, there will be no dialogue with us’”, said the criminal.

“That Moro there, that guy is a son of a bitch, this guy is a son of a bitch, bro. He came to delay. He already started to delay when he came to the PT. For you to see that the PT had dialogue with us. The PT had a tough dialogue with us, bro”.

The transfer order was quite bold, as retaliation is common after this type of measure. A decision by the government of São Paulo, in 2006, to move PCC leaders to the maximum security prison of Presidente Venceslau, in the interior of the state, provoked an unprecedented wave of violence with orchestrated attacks against civilians and security agents. The attacks resulted in 564 people being killed, including dozens of police officers. Despite this, the lack of structure in communication between the criminal group’s leaders prevented massive retaliatory attacks from being carried out.

Changes to intimate visit rules for factions and anti-crime package

Another measure implemented under the management of Sergio Moro as Minister of Justice was the edition of an ordinance that tightened the rules for social visits in maximum security federal prisons. Visits, previously in person in the visitation yards, are now allowed only for prisoners with the profile of collaborating defendant or award-winning whistleblower, while the others are now restricted to the parlor and videoconference. In other words, dangerous prisoners who refused to collaborate with the Justice system lost any kind of face-to-face contact with people outside the prisons.

Intimate visits in federal prisons had been prohibited during the Michel Temer government. The ordinance that brought this determination is the subject of several questions in the Federal Superior Court (STF), one of them filed by an NGO accused of connection with drug trafficking.

Another blow to organized crime that originated from Sergio Moro’s actions was the anti-crime package, which came into force in early 2021 after approval by the National Congress. The changes, whose objective was to tighten the fight against corruption, organized crime and violent crimes, were proposed by Moro while he was Bolsonaro’s minister.

Some of the approved measures that directly impact members of criminal factions are the increase in the maximum period in which prisoners considered dangerous can be isolated in federal prisons, which went from 360 days to three years, renewable for another three; the extension of the time spent in prison so that faction members have access to the progression of their sentences; the increase in the maximum prison term in Brazil, which went from 30 to 40 years for any type of crime; and the prohibition of temporary exits from prisons on festive dates for those convicted of heinous crimes.

For Rogério Greco, specialist in public security and organized crime, postdoctoral degree in Law and current Secretary of Justice and Public Security of Minas Gerais, the plan to attack Moro may represent retaliation for a series of measures taken by the former minister against crime. organized. He highlights, however, the isolation of the PCC leaders, especially Marcola.

“Isolation is a very important measure, because it actually isolates you from any communication. He no longer has contact with other prisoners, he spends 22 hours in his cell with two hours of sunbathing. That thing about the criminal organization from inside the cell is over. Contact with the outside world is much more limited,” he explains. “For the criminal it is horrible, because he wants to be in contact with everyone to maintain communication with the outside world, he wants access to a cell phone. But in the federal penitentiary that doesn’t happen”, continues Greco.

PF operation

In investigations of Operation Sequaz, PF agents discovered that the PCC intended to commit crimes such as homicides and extortion through kidnapping in the Federal District and in the states of Paraná, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul and Rondônia. According to the PF, the attacks would occur simultaneously, and the main investigated are in Paraná and São Paulo. As of this morning, nine people had been arrested.

In addition to the former minister, other authorities linked to the fight against crime were targeted by the faction, such as prosecutor Lincoln Gakiya, who has been involved in investigations into the activities of the PCC for years.

On Twitter, the senator announced that this Wednesday afternoon (22) he will make a statement on the Senate floor to comment on the case.