Brazil’s Lula Launches Federal Anti-Organized-Crime Pilot in Rio de Janeiro

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva introduced a pilot plan on Friday, 18 September 2026, to bolster the federal government's role in combating organized crime within Rio de Janeiro. The initiative focuses on key logistics corridors and specific territories, aiming to enhance shared intelligence, coordinated policing, and inspections. Targets include cargo theft, arms and drug trafficking, and the financial networks supporting criminal activities.

This move represents a significant shift in Brazil's approach to public security, as the federal government takes a more direct role for the first time in decades. The plan builds upon a US$2 billion anti-crime program launched by Lula in May, which funds efforts to combat arms trafficking, dismantle criminal financial networks, improve homicide investigations, and bolster the prison system.

The timing of the pilot's launch comes 16 days before the first round of the presidential election on 4 October 2026, with security being a top concern for voters. Lula emphasized that if the plan succeeds in Rio, it could serve as a model for the rest of the country.

Brazil's criminal landscape includes two major gangs, the First Command of the Capital (PCC) and the Red Command (Comando Vermelho), which have been labeled as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States. Lula rejected this classification, arguing that these groups are primarily profit-driven rather than politically motivated.

However, this stance has drawn criticism from Lula's political opponents, who accuse him of inaction and advocate for labeling the gangs as terrorist organizations and creating a dedicated security ministry.

The practical implementation of the pilot plan will involve increased checkpoints and inspections on highways leading to Rio, as well as the transfer of certain cases to federal courts, which are less susceptible to manipulation by local criminal networks. The success of the pilot will be measured over time, given that previous security-focused operations have not yielded quick results.