NATIONAL (Politics and crime) Criminology doctor Juan Martens warned that people who were identified in an investigation carried out on the First Capital Command (PCC) triumphed in these elections and will hold positions in the border governments and the Chamber of Deputies. For security reasons, he could not give names, but he highlighted how dangerous the way in which the criminal group advances and occupies spaces of power is.
Many peculiar people entered Congress after the, including a man who is imprisoned for alleged sexual abuse of a girl. Dr. Juan Martens, an expert in criminology, criminal policy and security, warned that there would also be people linked to the criminal group.
The researcher from the National University of Pilar and INECIP-Paraguay reported that he has been studying criminal groups in the country for 10 years and in a latest work published last year, they identified different people linked to drug trafficking and politics.
“Following up on the identified people, we found that several of them had run for elective positions for governorships and national offices.
After the electoral results, we saw that several people identified as linked to the PCC were elected governors and deputies in three border departments,” he warned.
The doctor in criminology added that he cannot confirm any identity due to security issues, but pointed out, for example, that a well-known lawyer linked to the PCC was chosen in last Sunday’s elections for governor.
Likewise, a brand new deputy would be linked to said criminal group after winning “by a large majority” in his department.
The First Capital Command and its growth in Paraguay
Martens said that for 10 years they have been analyzing the progress of crime in Paraguay and it is the first time that people linked to the PCC hold such important positions of power and “set foot in Congress.”
He recalled that the PCC is a Brazilian group that was born in 1993 in a prison in that country. “For 10 years it has been operating strongly in Paraguay, because here they can take cocaine through the Paraguay and Paraná rivers to diversify their route,” he recounted.
In addition, he added that Paraguay is one of the main ports of entry for arms, so the PCC is advancing in the markets for cocaine, arms trafficking, and even marijuana. “They are monopolizing the cultivation of marijuana, because they were the big buyers and, to lower costs, they decided to settle in the crops.
They have cultivation, transfer and retail sale”, he explained.
The specialist highlighted that a characteristic of the PCC is that its leaders always blend in by presenting themselves as businessmen.
Finally, he stressed that the entry of people linked to the PCC is extremely worrying.
“It is a danger for democracy, for the institutions, for the Judiciary, for the Court and even the Public Ministry, because Congress has many political powers,” he concluded. / text: ABC digital / photo: doctor Juan Martens