U.S. State Department moves to designate Brazil’s Red Command and PCC as terrorist groups

The U.S. State Department plans to announce that it is designating Brazil’s two largest organized criminal groups—the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC)—as terrorism-related entities. According to reporting, the department intends to list the groups as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) and also to classify them as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). The designations are described as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on major drug gangs and are framed as applying a “global terror” label in U.S. policy.

One outlet reports the move will be announced on Thursday, while another specifies that the FTO status takes effect on June 5. The articles do not describe new evidence or operational details, but they characterize the decision as targeting major criminal syndicates in Brazil under U.S. terrorism designation authorities. The designations would allow the U.S. to apply related legal and enforcement measures associated with SDGT and FTO listings.