Latin America’s Gangs Shift Into Legal Sectors, Boosting Resilience and Complexity

A new study finds that Latin America’s most powerful criminal organizations have broadened their revenue streams beyond drug trafficking, venturing into sectors such as fuel distribution, mining, logistics, real estate and digital payments. Brazil’s Operation Hidden Carbon, the country’s largest crackdown, seized about R$1.2 billion and exposed a laundering system that funneled billions through gas stations and fintechs linked to the First Capital Command.

This shift toward multi-market operations began in the mid-2010s and was hastened by the pandemic’s weakening of state capacity. While many governments pursue “mano dura” policies that emphasize visible arrests, the study warns that without targeting the financial and political networks that sustain gangs, such measures yield limited long-term impact. The United States has added the PCC and Red Command to its foreign terrorist organization list and increased strikes against drug vessels, yet cocaine supplies remain steady. Analysts suggest that asset freezes and corporate investigations, like those in Operation Hidden Carbon, offer a more sustainable path to dismantling organized crime’s economic foundations.