SAO PAULO– Authorities in Rio de Janeiro performed raids versus a criminal team Friday that purportedly ran a private ride-hailing application that created month-to-month revenues of as much as 1 million reais (concerning $185,000), authorities stated. At the very least 4 individuals were apprehended.
Authorities stated in a declaration that Comando Vermelho, among Brazil’s the majority of infamous criminal companies, coerced motorbike chauffeurs right into setting up a ride-hailing application established by the team and utilizing it in Vila Kennedy, a community in Rio de Janeiro.
Greater than 300 chauffeurs were signed up with the application, and the earnings was channelled with covering firms to fund medicine trafficking procedures.
Authorities have actually apprehended 4 individuals thus far and carried out 12 search and seizure warrants in Rio and surrounding cities. Authorities stated the ride-hailing procedure was run by 2 well-structured teams: one that intimidated and obtained chauffeurs, and an additional that gathered the revenues and moved them to the regional medicine lord.
Comando Vermelho, which converts to Red Command in English, is just one of Brazil’s earliest and biggest criminal gangs. Coming from Rio de Janeiro’s jail system in the late 1970s, the team has actually broadened its procedures right into various other criminal companies, consisting of global drug trafficking, and it likewise manages area in numerous of Rio’s working-class communities.
Equipped teams that control these locations commonly handle fundamental solutions such as gas, web and transport. Brazilian media lately reported that Comando Vermelho has actually prohibited using prominent ride-hailing applications like Uber and 99 from running in specific locations.
Motorbike taxis are a historical and prominent setting of transport in Rio and various other Brazilian cities. Uber released its motorbike experience solution in Rio in January 2023 and, 2 years later on, the firm stated in a declaration that it had actually moved 3 million customers and signed up 100,000 chauffeurs.
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