Comando Vermelho, the Brazilian cartel that has penetrated the Colombian-Peruvian Amazon
The criminal organization has built strong alliances with illegal groups from neighboring countries. For many members, the only way out other than prison or death is joining an evangelical church
Comando Vermelho, one of Brazil’s largest criminal organizations, has so firmly installed itself in the Amazon that it has become a key partner of narcos and armed groups in Peru and Colombia. Since 2023, it has managed to best other rival criminal groups, such as Os Crías, Primeiro Comando da Capital and the Familia do Norte, and has started dominating local trafficking in Colombia’s Leticia, capital of the Amazonas department, and in the nearby Brazilian municipality of Tabatinga. Its control over the latter city, with a population of 120,000 and the largest in the three-country border region, is notorious.
The most blatant evidence of Comando Vermelho’s influence are the so-called decretados, a term used by the area’s public officials that has even become jocular slang among local young people. The word refers to victims of Comando Vermelho’s threats, and to a lesser extent, those of Primeiro Comando da Capital. Members of the groups use their WhatsApp and other social media accounts to post photos of their “enemies,” the majority of them underage. EL PAÍS learned that in 2024 alone, Leticia was home to at least 10 decretados.
It’s a scenario of urban violence that José David Elizalde, the head of a human rights governmental agency in the Colombian department of Amazonas admits, with near-resignation, has rendered remote areas essentially black holes for he and his 13 staff members. “For the past two years, my agency hasn’t gone past Leticia and Puerto Nariño,” he says. That’s not just because trips further into the jungle can be costly, but because the control exercised over the region by the armed group has gotten to the point that they review the cell phones of individuals that pass through their checkpoints. This has increased inhabitants’ fear when it comes to denouncing such groups’ activities.
Comando Vermelho also controls local trafficking in the region’s other Brazilian towns. Benjamin Constant, which is located 45 minutes by motorboat from Leticia and the Peruvian border, has only 26 military police for its 42,000 residents. The criminal group is active in five of its neighborhoods. “To cover the needs, we would require 60 police officers,” says a source from the Brazilian military police. “They recruit here because there is a lack of opportunities and they control the drug trafficking.”
In one of these neighborhoods, graffiti does not only declare the names of Brazilian gangs — it also proclaims those of evangelical churches. The religious organizations have become the safest exit route for young people who form part of delinquent groups. “They [Comando Vermelho] are big believers and think that the only way to change these young people is through God,” says a man who has been a pastor at one of these churches for four years. Seated on a white plastic chair in a small brick building covered in church posters, he says he joined the Comando Vermelho at the age of 15 and left the group 13 years ago. In the background, music plays. A woman sings, “If you can, raise your hands up, because we are going to say ‘saint, saint, saint.’ The Earth will hear what Heaven is saying. Raise your hands up, my God.”
“We have several young people who were part of the group. Sometimes, they call to ask if somebody is still here,” he says. “The church is the only way out of crime besides winding up in prison or winding up dead.” He’s not the only one who believes this. “These churches have arrived at an understanding with the leaders of the criminal organizations, according to which they will accept the exit of a member only if they demonstrate genuine faith and devotion,” reads a report published in July by the non-profit International Crisis Group.
When the former gang member refers to crime, he’s not just talking about drug trafficking. Peruvian, Colombian and Brazilian criminal groups have been diversifying into other activities that provide avenues to financial enrichment and at the same time, ways to launder drug money. The most visible of these are fishing, logging and above all, gold mining — all using illegal methods. Each produces their own earnings, but also allows criminals to launder trafficking money and hide drugs in cargo shipments. Comando Vermelho appears to be gaining status via criminal multi-tasking, and via the tri-border alliance with narcos that is gaining ground as the jungle loses.
In collaboration with the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development.
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