Brazil prosecutors address organized crime expansion

The expansion of organized crime in Brazil is shifting from traditional strongholds in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo toward the Northeast, particularly Bahia. Pedro Maia, Prosecutor General of Bahia and President of the National Council of Prosecutors-General (CNPG), noted that criminal groups are operating through articulated networks with interstate and transnational connections.

In Bahia, the Public Ministry conducted 172 operations against criminal organizations during Maia's first term. Strategies to combat these groups focus on financial asphyxiation, asset recovery, disrupting logistics—specifically command structures operating from prisons—and improving the investigation of violent crimes. The approach emphasizes weakening the underlying structures of criminal activity through intelligence and integration with security forces rather than focusing solely on individuals.

Separately, historical scrutiny has been applied to the case of Adriano da Nóbrega. Once honored with the Tiradentes Medal by a state deputy in 2005, Nóbrega was later indicted in 2019 as a leader of a militia in Rio de Janeiro. Investigations linked to the murders of Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes identified his group as being involved in extortion, land grabbing, and illegal real estate dealings. Nóbrega was killed by police in Bahia in February 2020 during an operation to capture him.