SUMMARY

PCM (Primeiro Comando do Maranhão/First Command of Maranhão) was founded in 2007 and became a prominent criminal organization in the state of Maranhão, in northeastern Brazil. Their main activities and sources of income were drug trading, robberies, and prostitution. The gang was also remarkable for being highly violent, which helped prompt its image of a dangerous group.

PCM was formed after a series of bloody riots in the Pedrinhas Penal Complex, located in the city of São Luís, stirred the rivalry between inmates from the capital and those from the countryside. To defend themselves from the harsh conditions faced in the penal system and the constant threats from rivals, prisoners from the countryside, inspired by PCC’s organizational structure, founded PCM. Meanwhile, their adversaries from the capital created its main rival, Bonde dos 40.

PCM operated in low-income neighborhoods of São Luís, where they mainly fought Bonde dos 40 over the control of local drug markets. However, this figure changed after the split between Comando Vermelho and PCC in 2016. Following the rupture, both groups formed alliances with local criminal organizations across the country, which resulted in bloodsheds in Brazil, particularly in the North and Northeastern regions.

Although PCM was notably influenced by PCC in its inception, the group sought an alliance with Comando Vermelho after their breakup. Yet, this strategy proved costly to PCM. It generated internal disputes, which resulted in the group’s dismantling in late 2016. Dissatisfied with its management, the majority of its members left PCM and joined Comando Vermelho, while others opted for PCC or Comando Organizado do Maranhão (COM). Due to the erosion of its ranks, by 2017, the group had waned to the point it was formally disbanded.

In 2021, however, this figure had changed. In that year, a new series of internal disputes led former PCM members to abandon Comando Vermelho and join the weakened Comando Organizado do Maranhão (COM). This movement culminated in the strengthening of the latter, which subsequently adopted the name PCM and restored former disputes for control of drug markets with Bonde dos 40.

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