Comando Vermelho
| Founded | 1979 |
|---|---|
| Founders | · William da Silva Lima, o Professor · José Carlos dos Reis Encina, Escadinha · Rogério Lemgruber |
| Founding location | Cândido Mendes Penal Institute, Ilha Grande, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Territory | Main territory:
Main routes/Significant influence:
Significant activity: |
| Ethnicity | Brazilians (predominantly) |
| Leaders | · Fernandinho Beira-Mar · Marcinho VP |
| Criminal activities | Drugs and Arms trafficking, Smuggling, Truck hijacking, Bank robbery, Extortion, Racketeering, Fraud, Illegal gambling, Prostitution, Loan sharking, Bribery, Money laundering, Murder, Kidnapping and Narcoterrorism (alleged) |
| Rivals | · Primeiro Comando da Capital · Terceiro Comando Puro · Amigos dos Amigos · Brazilian militias · Família do Norte · Guardiões do Estado |
Comando Vermelho (Portuguese: [koˈmɐ̃du veʁˈmeʎu], Red Command or Red Commando), also known as CV, is a Brazilian criminal organization engaged in drug trafficking, arms trafficking, truckjacking, and turf wars. The group, originally known as Falange Vermelha ("Red Phalanx"), was formed in 1979 as an alliance between ordinary convicts and left-wing urban guerrillas who were imprisoned together during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship. They created codes of conduct and hierarchy, and employed urban guerrilla tactics for bank robbing; with their leaders controlling the organisation from inside the prison. In the early 1980s, the group changed its name to Comando Vermelho, and veered towards drug trafficking and territory control.
The Comando controls parts of Rio de Janeiro and has expanded to other states and into neighbouring countries. It has fought in several small-scale conflicts with rival gangs such as Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), Amigos dos Amigos (ADA) and Terceiro Comando (TC), the latter itself the result of a power struggle between Comando Vermelho leaders in the mid-1980s.