A leader of the Brazilian PCC crime syndicate has been caught in Bolivia after six years on the run.
May 27, 2026, 04:33May 27, 2026, 04:33
The person arrested is the drug trafficker Gerson Palermo, who was sentenced to a total of almost 126 years in prison for international drug smuggling and a plane hijacking, as the news portal “G1” reported. He was on the list of Brazil’s most wanted criminals.
A Bolivian special force captured Palermo. (symbol image)Image: keystone
According to investigators, Palermo was captured in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in eastern Bolivia in a joint operation by the Brazilian federal police and Bolivian anti-drug units. He should now be expelled and handed over to the Brazilian police, “G1” quoted the head of the Bolivian special anti-narcotics unit, David Gómez. “He had no trial here in Bolivia, but hid and fled from the Brazilian justice system to our country.”
Palermo was released from prison in 2020 after a controversial court decision and then went into hiding. The judge involved was later forced into retirement by the Brazilian Judicial Council.
Plane hijacking and drug smuggling
According to “G1”, Palermo was, among other things, involved in a plane hijacking in 2000. A Boeing 737 belonging to the Brazilian airline Vasp was forced to land in the state of Paraná and robbed.
According to investigators, Palermo later belonged to the leadership of the PCC (“Primeiro Comando da Capital”) crime syndicate. The group is considered the most powerful criminal organization in Brazil and a central player in cocaine smuggling from the Andean countries. (sda/dpa)