An inked 25-year-old dubbed the Lady of Crime had a chief role in one of the world’s largest crime syndicates, according to police.
Lúcia Gabriela Rodrigues Bandeira was at the top of the PCC hierarchy in Tocantins State, Brazil, detectives have revealed.
The PCC, or Primeiro Comando da Capital, reportedly has tens of thousands of members both inside and outside of Brazil.
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The network plays a key role in the global cocaine trade.
Its name translates to First Capital Command.
Members have also carried out mass prison riots, assassinations and attacks against law enforcement.
The police say Bandeira led other members, assigned roles and organised drug distribution among dealers within the faction.
She is also accused of ordering attacks on rival gang members who were “causing trouble in the area”.
Bandeira was one of the targets of a police crackdown named Operation Asphyxia which was carried out on Tuesday (4 Feb).
Fifteen people were arrested – 10 in Tocantins and five in São Paulo State.
They are accused of using pistols imported from Turkey to carry out murders in Palmas, Tocantins, and of money laundering.
Bandeira was already in custody when a detention order was issued against her on Tuesday.
She was banged up in December last year after being targeted in a separate operation.
She was previously arrested in July 2024 with more than 300,000 BRL (£41,322) worth of drugs.
However, she was released after claiming she was the sole carer for her four-year-old child and later joked about the situation on social media.
The police say Bandeira kept a list of drug sales points and was responsible for balancing the books.
She was also in charge of receiving drug shipments and restocking the sales points, as reported by Need To Know.
In one recording, according to the police, she called on members to pool weapons and money to eliminate members of a rival faction.
Local media have dubbed her the Dama do Crime, or Lady of Crime, because members referred to her by the alias Dama.
Detective Alexander Costa told local media: “Over the past two years, financial transactions totalling 20m BRL (£2.75m) have been identified.
“By freezing the accounts of key frontmen, we aim to cut off the cash flow generated by money laundering linked to drug trafficking by this cell, which is connected to a São Paulo-based criminal faction operating across multiple states.”
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