By Paul Nicholson
October 20 – Fears of a series of terror attacks during the Brazil 2014 World Cup have emerged following a threat from Brazil’s largest organised crime group, the First Capital Command (PCC) drug cartel, to unleash a ‘World Cup of Terror’ during the summer of 2014, as well as attacks during local political elections.
The threat comes after the government announced plans to transfer some of the PCC’s gang members to prisons spread across the country, The PCC operates extensively within the prison system in Brazil and is estimated to have a membership of 11,000. Formed originally in Sao Paulo it has gained control of the country’s major drug trafficking routes between Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
Although not targeting the World Cup itself, the gang – which operates using cell phones, lawyers and corrupt government officials – is using the upcoming World Cup as leverage to achieve its own aims.
Brazilian police learned of the threat from intercepted phone calls using wire taps. They are currently engaged in a vicious street war with the gang. In 2012 the PCC killed 106 members of the Brazilian Military Police in revenge attacks for the ‘execution’ by police of suspected gang members.
The news will be of real concern to World Cup organisers, but law enforcement authorities have moved quickly to say said it’s highly unlikely the threat will affect the World Cup games and that football fans should not be deterred from visiting the country next year.
“It is a group that should be taken seriously and being fought like any criminal organization,” Sao Paulo’s public security office said in the statement. “However, the information gathered so far by intelligence services does not point to any indication that any attack will occur. This is not the time to generate alarmism.”
The Sao Paulo police chief has told his officers to be extra careful when parking their cars and traveling home.
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