U.S. Labels Brazil’s CV and PCC Terrorist Organizations

The United States has designated Brazil’s Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and will add them to the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations on June 5. The designations cite large-scale drug trafficking and the use of cryptocurrency, including bitcoin mining, to launder proceeds.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the groups as commanding thousands of members and orchestrating brutal attacks against police, public officials and civilians, and said their activities extend beyond Brazil’s borders. The FTO listing will bring the groups under strict legal and financial restrictions under U.S. counterterrorism and sanctions laws.

U.S. officials and Brazilian investigators tied both organizations to drug-trafficking networks that use digital assets to move and conceal funds. Public records identified the groups among the country’s largest crypto money launderers, and federal police investigations have pointed to links between organized crime cells and overseas networks.

Brazilian authorities say they first detected crypto-based laundering tied to the PCC in 2024, when São Paulo police traced a bitcoin-mining company, Jacatorta, to Anselmo Santa Fausta, also known as Cara Preta, whom investigators identified as a high-level PCC operative. Authorities said the mining operation served as a cover to process illicit proceeds. During Operation Contenção in Rio de Janeiro, police seized dozens of ASIC machines they connected to PCC-controlled mining operations.

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro lobbied U.S. officials for tougher measures against the groups. The State Department described the action as aimed at disrupting networks that use digital assets to funnel drug proceeds across borders.

The United States has previously designated other transnational drug-trafficking groups as FTOs, including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, citing similar use of digital assets in laundering schemes. An FTO designation triggers asset freezes, restrictions on material support and potential criminal penalties for individuals who provide support to the listed organizations.

Brazilian authorities have pursued prosecutions and investigations into narcotics distribution, armed attacks on security forces and financial operations tied to organized crime. U.S. and Brazilian officials said they will increase coordination to trace and block illicit financial flows linked to CV and PCC.