Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06SAOPAULO708
2006-06-27 18:14:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Sao Paulo
Cable title:  

PCC FOILED IN ATTEMPTED ATTACKS ON OUTSKIRTS OF SP

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KCRM CASC SOCI SNAR ASEC BR 
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RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 7217
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RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
RUEAWJC/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEABND/DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN HQ WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 000708 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/WHA, DS/ICI/PII, DS/DSS/OSAC, WHA/BSC
NSC FOR FEARS
DEA FOR OEL/DESANTIS AND NIRL/LEHRER
DEPT ALSO FOR WHA/PDA, DRL/PHD, INL, DS/IP/WHA, DS/DSS/ITA
BRASILIA FOR RSO AND LEGAT; RIO DE JANEIRO FOR RSO
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCRM CASC SOCI SNAR ASEC BR
SUBJECT: PCC FOILED IN ATTEMPTED ATTACKS ON OUTSKIRTS OF SP

REF: (A) Sao Paulo 573; (B) Sao Paulo 551; (C) Sao Paulo 532; (D)
Sao Paulo 526

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 000708

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/WHA, DS/ICI/PII, DS/DSS/OSAC, WHA/BSC
NSC FOR FEARS
DEA FOR OEL/DESANTIS AND NIRL/LEHRER
DEPT ALSO FOR WHA/PDA, DRL/PHD, INL, DS/IP/WHA, DS/DSS/ITA
BRASILIA FOR RSO AND LEGAT; RIO DE JANEIRO FOR RSO
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCRM CASC SOCI SNAR ASEC BR
SUBJECT: PCC FOILED IN ATTEMPTED ATTACKS ON OUTSKIRTS OF SP

REF: (A) Sao Paulo 573; (B) Sao Paulo 551; (C) Sao Paulo 532; (D)
Sao Paulo 526

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Sao Paulo state security officials reported on
Monday, June 26, that police foiled several attacks against
employees of detention facilities planned by Sao Paulo's notorious
criminal gang the First Capital Command (PCC). State officials said
imprisoned PCC leaders ordered street units to kill five to fifteen
prison guards over a ten-day period, focusing on several specific
prisoner detention and transfer facilities in metropolitan Sao
Paulo. Officials reported that the police killed 13 suspected PCC
members before they could execute the attacks. There were no police
or bystander casualties reported. We have no indication that Amcits
were in any way threatened by this recent incident, and the
neighborhoods involved are not commonly visited by Americans living
in or visiting Sao Paulo. At the moment, there does not appear to
be any threat of a wider confrontation akin to the wave of violence
that wracked Sao Paulo in May (reftels),but we have received
information that police expect another attack in the same area
within the next few days. END SUMMARY.

--------------
POLICE WIN ONE IN ADVANCE
--------------


2. (SBU) Just over a month after a brutal wave of violence
orchestrated by the organized criminal gang the First Capital
Command (PCC) wracked the state of Sao Paulo and resulted in over
200 deaths (see reftels),Sao Paulo state security officials
reported that the PCC had planned to launch attacks against
employees of several detention facilities around greater Sao Paulo,
but was foiled by police raids that resulted in the deaths of 13
suspected attackers. Security officials gave few details of the

police actions, but it appears that imprisoned PCC leaders had given
an order to some of its street units to kill between five and
fifteen prison employees over a ten-day period, focusing on the
inner-ring working-class suburbs of Santo Andre, Sao Bernardo do
Campo, Diadema and Maua. It is thought that these locales were
targeted because prisoner transfer facilities located in them
present good targets, and because PCC leadership felt that not
enough violence was unleashed in these areas during May's crime
wave. (NOTE: These are not areas where American citizens generally
reside or visit. But Diadema is along a lesser-traveled route
between Sao Paulo and the beach/port area of Santos, and Sao
Bernardo is known as a factory and industrial center, and is the
hometown of President Lula. END NOTE.) At some point last week, Sao
Paulo police uncovered the plot, and in the early morning hours of
Monday, June 26, moved on several locations to thwart suspected
attackers before they could take action against prison officials.
In addition to the 13 suspects killed, five to ten persons were
apprehended, all of whom have criminal records, according to the
police. Several small arms were also confiscated.

--------------
GOOD INTELLIGENCE ON BOTH SIDES
--------------


3. (SBU) This incident highlights the rather sophisticated level of
intelligence-gathering, planning and execution utilized by both the
Sao Paulo public security apparatus and the PCC. As we have
previously reported, the PCC has an almost corporate-like command
and control structure and an intelligence network sophisticated
enough to locate and kill police officers during off-duty hours both
at home and in public places such as restaurants.


4. (SBU) State officials said that they discovered the plot to kill
prison workers through intense monitoring of prisoner movements and
through intercepted phone calls. The Civil Police (the
investigative arm of the Brazilian law enforcement structure)
conducted close surveillance of a group of suspected attackers, who

SAO PAULO 00000708 002 OF 002


apparently planned to attack prison workers at a bus stop near the
Sao Bernardo Temporary Detention Center (CDP) as they were to arrive
or leave for work in the early morning hours. It was reported that
PCC attackers were in place by 5:00 a.m. on Monday to intercept and
kill prison guards at the bus stop, but that police engaged the PCC
teams two hours later after an order to attack had been given from
imprisoned gang leaders. Police officials said that two suspects
were killed as they waited at the bus stop for prison guards to
arrive, seven were killed at two nearby gasoline stations, and a
tenth was killed in a car. Three suspects reportedly escaped the
area by car and headed toward Diadema, where police killed them in a
gunfight at a road block.


5. (SBU) While the police apparently accurately detected and
successfully foiled this plot, the PCC showed that it still has a
strong network operating both within the state's prisons and on its
streets. Three women were arrested near the Sao Bernardo CDP,
accused of being spotters for the PCC who had monitored and recorded
the routine of CDP employees, allegedly giving rise to the
particular plot to use the bus stop as a target. At least six
prison guards from a different CDP in the southern zone of greater
Sao Paulo stayed home from work on Monday after having received
death threats via telephone.

--------------
PCC LEADERS ARE SAFE AND SOUND, FOR NOW
--------------


6. (SBU) The upside for Sao Paulo's security officials is that it
appears the top leaders of the PCC are secure and isolated in the
Presidente Vencelsau 2 prison in the interior of Sao Paulo state.
An investigative report published Sunday by the news daily Folha de
Sao Paulo described the group of PCC top brass as being closely
monitored around the clock by heavily armed special police units,
and having very restricted privileges. The paper also reported that
visits were few and closely monitored, and visitors were thoroughly
searched. However, several guards were quoted as saying they feared
for the future, as over time, PCC members will be released back into
the streets and will seek retaliation against guards and their
families. "We are on the edge of a new slaughter," said one guard,
who refused to allow his name to be published. Furthermore, Sao
Paulo prison guards are again threatening to go on strike (ref B),
which could weaken the tight lid that has been kept on the PCC
leadership since May. Coincidently or not, the federal government
opened a new state-of-the-art prison in Parana state over the
weekend -- the first federal prison in Brazil -- and is touting it
as the model for other penal institutions soon to be built
elsewhere.

--------------
BUT WHEN WILL THEY STRIKE AGAIN?
--------------


7. (SBU) COMMENT: While the police can chalk up a win for Monday's
foiled attack, the fact that the PCC got as far as they did in
planning and execution begs the question of when it will strike
again. Widespread violence is not anticipated during the World Cup
matches, for to disrupt Brazilians' enjoyment of watching and
savoring each match would be one of the fastest ways to engender
animosity and provoke anger across all socio-economic classes. But
clearly the PCC has in mind further strikes against public security
targets, albeit apparently far more limited in scale and public
impact than the events of May. In fact, uncorroborated sources have
told us that the police are aware of new attacks being planned for
the same areas as the attempted killings on Monday, against similar
prison targets, to take place within the next several days. END
COMMENT.

MCMULLEN