International Journal on Criminology Volume 6, Number 2, Winter 2018/Spring 2019 | Page 45

International Journal on Criminology
nal groups at work in Uruguay. For example, the Primeiro Comando da Capital
(PCC), a group originally from Sao Paolo, with 20,000 members and very active in
Paraguay as well as Bolivia, seems to have established itself in Montevideo, 31 using
the Uruguayan capital as a transit zone for its cannabis and cocaine export trade.
What attracts them to the city is its status as a regional outlet for the export
of raw and processed goods sent from Brazil and Paraguay, and its port facilities
with links to China, the United States, and Europe. 32 According to Julio Calzada,
former head of the JND, "this increase in criminal activity has begun to give rise
to drug-related kidnappings; and since 2008, the security situation has been made
even worse by the increasing number of murders carried out by sicarios." 33
This phenomenon, overwhelmingly linked to narcotics, and previously only
seen in other Latin American countries like Mexico and Columbia, is now affecting
Uruguay, as shown by the discovery of the tortured and dismembered remains
of two teenagers a year after they disappeared, in August 2015, part of a settling
of accounts between Brazilian and Paraguayan gangs. As for activities related to
money laundering, the INCSR details how the Uruguayan authorities have carried
out five significant operations since 2013, involving funds from Peru, Argentina,
and Spain. These money flows can avail themselves of the services of twenty or
so financial institutions, of which three are offshore banks. Moreover, twelve free
trade zones (FTZ) in tourist areas and on the borders also enable money to be
laundered through the numerous casinos set up there. And finally, a number of
suspicious real estate transactions have also been identified.
Policing Reorganized
The Uruguayan police, thirty-thousand state employees, and parts of the
magistrature believe that they have not been fully involved in the process
of legalizing cannabis, 34 a process that has in fact been criticized from that
quarter because of the loopholes contained within it: "This resistance on the part
of the repressive organs of the state is also due to the fact that this law was badly
written from a juridical point of view, and because a lot of Uruguayans are not in
favor of it, particularly the more conservative elements." 35
Some explain this lack of enthusiasm in terms of how difficult it is to bring
about a change of mentality and shake up established professional practices. But
31 http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/brazil-gang-uruguay-shows-growing-role-drug-trade
32 http://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/narcos-brasilenos-uruguay-trampolin-crimen.html
33 Meaning "hired killer" in Spanish, the sicarios are generally young gang members who carry out
murders sometimes for a few dollars, or to earn a place in the criminal gang.
34 Members of the new government—who emerged from the political left, which was severely repressed
during the dictatorship of 1973-1985—supported by a segment of the population, probably
preferred to keep the police and magistrature away from the legislative process.
35 Interview with a magistrate, CANNALEX.
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