This is a translation of the original article in Portuguese. Read the original (Português).
Leaders of the Comando Vermelho, a Rio de Janeiro-based criminal faction, are hiding in Rio de Janeiro and behind a wave of extortion against water distributors and internet providers in Ceará, according to investigations reported by the Brazilian newspaper Diário do Nordeste. Since July 2025, 176 people have been arrested in the state for involvement in the scheme.
The machinery works like this: orders come from Rio, money is collected from Ceará’s merchants and, according to the investigations, covers rents of R$ 80,000 to R$ 100,000 per month for the faction’s bosses in the Rio de Janeiro capital. The targets are businesses tied to basic services, such as bottled water sales and internet access.
In Fortaleza, distributors in neighborhoods such as Rosalina, Bela Vista and Pan-Americano reportedly were barred from selling water under threat from the faction. On Friday (6), the Military Police escorted a truck belonging to a distributor in the Cidade 2000 neighborhood of the capital.
Life changes in the interior
In the interior, the situation has even changed residents’ routines. In Banabuiú, residents have been buying water jugs under police escort since October 31, after threats against local distributors. The operation is supported by Cagece, the state water and sewage company, which delivered 1,000 jugs to the town. Ten people have been arrested for extorting water merchants in the city.
Internet providers are the other front. In municipalities such as Caucaia, São Gonçalo do Amarante and Groaíras, companies in the sector were threatened and attacked with arson, gunfire and cuts to fiber optic cables, leaving customers without connection. In April, a businessman was arrested upon arriving in Ceará, suspected of maintaining an alliance with the faction.
The pressure on the sector is not limited to the state. During the 5th edition of Abrint Nordeste, an event for internet providers held in Fortaleza, it was reported that criminal factions are coercing companies into ending their operations in areas of the region, according to the newspaper O Povo, a Brazilian paper.
The Public Security and Social Defense Secretariat (SSPDS) says it has reinforced policing and efforts to combat extortion. The agency, however, did not confirm the request for an escort for the water truck in Fortaleza, although the Military Police’s street action did take place.
For people living in the affected areas, the effect is direct: buying water or keeping the internet running now depends on a faction’s permission or on the presence of police officers. The case shows how organized crime is no longer confined to drug trafficking and is now interfering with the supply of everyday services, commanded from a distance from another state.
Reporting from Diário do Nordeste (p. 1, 12, 13 e 14 (Fortaleza, Caucaia e Banabuiú/CE)), O Povo (p. 7 (Fortaleza/CE)).
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