The Brazil's red command gang has created its own Uber carpooling application, showing how Brazilian gangs combine territorial control of the real world and the increase in technological sophistication to generate new sources of income.
Red command (Comando Vermelho – Resume) has managed its application, called Rotax Mobili, with an ally criminal group, Amigos Dos Amigos. The application slogan promised that it was “the only car and motorcycle application that goes beyond the barricade”, referring to the physical barriers created by the gangs to manage access to the neighborhoods they control.
The red command would have outsourced the development of the application to programmers without affiliation to the group, but the gang itself was responsible for monitoring and controlling drivers by threats and extortion, as well as profits.
Operating mainly at Villa Kennedy, a district that the Red Control Command, the criminals have received a fixed Amount plus 20 to 30% of the profits of riding drivers. The red command used the benefits of the application to finance drug trafficking activities and used companies before to cover their traces.
To make Rotax Mobili, the exclusive driving application for communities under the control of the group, the red command has prohibited the use of legitimate platforms such as Uber and the Brazilian application 99. The gang would have forced on 300 drivers to reach its platform.
See also: Inside the battle for Rio de Janeiro: Red command against militias
Rotax Mobili was operational for three months and generated a profit from around 1 million reais (nearly $ 185,000) per month for the gang, according to Alexandre Clean, a police chief operating in the west of Rio.
Rio de Janeiro police fired Rotax Mobili in August in an operation called Shadow Road (Rota Das Sombras), stopping at least five people, entering a car and around 300,000 reais (more than $ 55,000) in cash and prohibiting the application store platform.
The movement thwarted Red Command's plans to extend the operation of the application to other parts of the west of Rio – including Territories controlled by Amigos Dos Amigos – and in Rocinha, the largest favela in Brazil.
An analysis of insightful crime
The RED Command carpooling application shows how Brazilian organized crime uses technology to increase benefits by taking advantage of its grip on certain physical spaces.
The gangs already use barricades to control which is authorized in certain districts, it is therefore a next logical step so that they charge this access. The use of technology facilitates the implementation and monitoring of the scheme.
See also: Brazil gangs extend their control over Internet services
“The novelty of the application is simply that it is an application, because this logic of operation according to the need for mobility services within favor Exist for a long time, ”told Insight Crime Carlos Nhanga, regional coordinator of the Fogo Cruzado Institute in Rio de Janeiro.
Rotax Mobili reflect A broader trend in Brazilian organized crime increasingly incorporating technology into its pursuit of profit and power.
Organized crime “innovated and has become more sophisticated, while the state has lagged behind in the fight against these organizations,” said Nhanga.
Featured image: Graffiti with instructions for drivers in Barra Mansa, Brazil. Credit: Gabriel de Paiva.
