EL PAcCTO is also fighting organised crime in prisons

EL PAcCTO, a project funded by the European Union and managed by FIIAPP and Expertise France that is supported by IILA and Camões, organised a workshop in Brasilia together with the National Penitentiary Department of Brazil (DEPEN) to address the problem of the infiltration of crime in prisons.

The common goal is none other than to work together in the investigation and exchange of good European and Latin American practices to combat the infiltration of transnational crime organised in prisons. Not surprisingly, according to official sources, in Brazil there are transnational criminal organisations that maintain permanent relationships with prison inmates. There are even groups that have been created in prisons, such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) that emerged in the San Paolo prison (São Paulo).

In the “Workshop for the inter-institutional management of organised criminal groups with the participation of state representatives” issues such as the exchange of data and information on members of organised criminal groups detained in Brazil, or the possible improvements that can be introduced in the collection and exchange of information have discussed. In addition, all Brazilian states have shown interest in joining REDCOPEN, a penitentiary information exchange network established within MERCOSUR with the support of EL PAcCTO.

The workshop was opened by the business head of the Delegation of the European Union in Brazil, Claudia Gintersdorfer and the Minister of Justice and Public Security of Brazil, Sergio Moro, who stressed in his speech that “the fight against organised crime in Brazil can only be made effective by intensifying international cooperation and strengthening prison systems, since most of our criminal groups are based in detention centres”.

Likewise, European, Argentine and Bolivian specialists participated in the meeting, as well as the prison intelligence coordinators of the penitentiary services of all the states of Brazil, as well as police officers, representatives of the judiciary and prosecutors.