The dire crime situation at Brazil’s top ports has forced the nation’s president to deploy the army.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced yesterday that the army would be brought in to aid security at the nation’s top ports and airports for an initial period of six months. The ports are Santos and Itagui, conduits for the global cocaine trades as well as the entry points for a rising volume of illegal armaments used by the country’s criminal gangs.
The majority of the international drug trade for cocaine manufactured in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, passes through Brazilian ports, led by Santos in São Paulo state.
São Paulo is home to Brazil’s largest criminal organisation, the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC), which has become an essential player supplying Europe’s cocaine market, valued at more than $10bn, according to recent customs data on cocaine seizures and research studies on illegal drugs.
According to the International Chamber of Shipping, nearly 90% of all cocaine, 45% of all cannabis, and 30% of all amphetamine-type stimulants are trafficked by sea.
