SUMMARY

The GDE (Guardiões do Estado/Guardians of the state) was formed in 2012 and became one of the dominating gangs in Ceará state in northeastern Brazil. The group was involved in drug trafficking in Ceará state, mainly in the capital Fortaleza city and the larger Metropolitan Region.

Similarly to other drug trafficking networks the GDE had no big chief. Instead, they had a decentralized leadership with serveral leaders in their controlled neighborhoods as well as in state prisons. One of these leaders was identified as Daniel Júnior dos Santos Silva, "Junior Play", who was involved in coordinating the faction from a state prison. Members of GDE are often adolescents recruited from poor areas in Fortaleza city periphery, giving them an opportunity to make a livelihood.

In 2017, GDE allied themselves with PCC, one of Brazil's most powerful criminal organizations. PCC had for years upheld peaceful relations with its main rival, Comando Vermelho, until 2016 when their truce was broken, which led to an escalation of violence in the country. The groups and their allies battled for control over drug trafficking and trafficking routs. The new alliance caused enmity between GDE and Comando Vermelho which resulted in an eruption of violence in Ceará state.

The GDE has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organized violence.