The Pacific Cocaine Corridor: A Brazilian Cartel’s Pipeline to Australia is a report by Lt. Col. Rodrigo Duton of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State, published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Find the report here. “Australia faces an emerging national security threat from Brazilian transnational crime groups. Once a domestic concern, Brazilian organised crime has evolved into … Read more The post The Pacific cocaine corridor: a Brazilian cartel’s pipeline to Australia appeared first on Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University.
The Pacific Cocaine Corridor: A Brazilian Cartel’s Pipeline to Australia is a report by Lt. Col. Rodrigo Duton of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro State, published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
“Australia faces an emerging national security threat from Brazilian transnational crime groups. Once a domestic concern, Brazilian organised crime has evolved into a powerful narco-insurgency with transnational reach. This makes Brazil the world’s second-largest player in the cocaine trade after Colombia.
While Brazilian organised crime previously posed little threat to Australia, this report, The Pacific cocaine corridor: A Brazilian cartel’s pipeline to Australia, examines how Brazil’s expanding role in global cocaine supply, rising criminal network sophistication, and growing demand in Australia’s lucrative cocaine market are increasing the presence of Brazilian organised crime on Australian shores.
The report highlights how Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) has become a major transnational criminal threat, exploiting weaknesses in political, legal, and economic systems. It explores Brazil’s geography and criminal networks with South American cocaine producers and examines the PCC’s global distribution networks, with a focus on how the Pacific is increasingly used to transport drugs destined for Australia. A recent case study demonstrates the prioritisation of the Australian market in these operations.
The report concludes with recommendations for strengthening police cooperation, enhancing financial surveillance, and proactively detecting and disrupting PCC activities. By addressing key enablers of the PCC’s resilience and closing gaps in international information exchange, a coordinated approach will not only mitigate the immediate threat but also bolster Australia’s long-term defences against transnational organised crime.”
Here is a direct quote on why this report is important:
In recent years, the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), a prominent Brazilian organised crime group from São Paulo in southeast Brazil, has significantly expanded its operations into Australia. In 2020, the Australian Federal Police intercepted half a tonne of cocaine shipped to Sydney from Brazil, concealed in banana pulp bags. The PCC syndicate partnered with Australian Mark Rene De Hesselle, the owner of the fruit trading company Fruit Plus, who subsequently pleaded guilty to importing a commercial quantity of cocaine.
In recent years, PCC activity and influence in Australia have become more direct and pervasive. It’s diversifying its interests, seeking new markets and exploring expansion into the methamphetamine and synthetic opioid markets.
The Pacific has become an increasingly important transit node in the PCC’s operations, reflecting the group’s growing adaptability and global ambitions. For years, the region has been a key route for organised crime groups moving cocaine from the Americas to Australia and New Zealand. The PCC’s involvement in those routes demonstrates its strategic expansion and its ability to exploit global trade networks to strengthen its international reach.
Brazil’s current reality presents a more complex and troubling picture than the idyllic paradise often romanticised in songs. Over the past two decades, it has transformed into a haven for organised crime groups. It’s now second to Colombia in the global cocaine trafficking market, as a transhipment point, making Brazil’s organised crime influence extremely pervasive at home and globally.
To effectively counter the expanding threat that the PCC and other Brazilian organised crime groups pose, Australia must implement a comprehensive strategic approach that combines robust domestic measures with enhanced international collaboration. Given the PCC’s sophisticated transnational operations, such as drug trafficking, arms smuggling and financial crimes, coordinated efforts across jurisdictions are essential to mitigate their impact.
The efforts should focus on:
• strengthening international police-to-police cooperation between Australia and Brazil through timely intelligence sharing on the PCC’s activities, operational structures and criminal networks, focusing on proactively detecting and disrupting the PCC’s activities
• ongoing enhancement and coordination of financial surveillance between Brazil and Australia to target the PCC, which relies heavily on illicit financial flows to sustain its operations
• disrupting the movement of known PCC members through the sharing of criminal intelligence between Brazil and Australia
• cooperating on offender and post-sentence management practices that disrupt known PCC members’ attempts to establish criminal networks.
By adopting this integrated approach, Australia can not only mitigate the immediate threat posed by the PCC but can also build long-term resilience against transnational organised crime.
Here is the table of contents:
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Why is this important? 4
The expansion of transnational organised crime in Australia 5
Brazilian organised crime 6
The globalisation of Brazilian organised crime 7
How Brazilian organised crime operates 10
Brazil’s global gateways 11
Brazilian organised crime in Australia 12
Cocaine as an Oceania pull factor 14
Navigating Australia’s future course 15
Glossary 17
Notes 18
Acronyms and abbreviations 19
The report doesn’t just admire the problem. It offers a comprehensive strategy for countering these emerging threats. By recommending enhanced international law enforcement cooperation, improved intelligence sharing, and targeted financial surveillance, the document provides a blueprint for how nations can collaborate to disrupt sophisticated criminal networks.
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