Factional dynamics and the relevance of Ceará for international drug trafficking

Abstract

This work seeks to understand and analyze the dynamics of drug gangs in Ceará over the last decade (2015-2025), as well as to demonstrate why Ceará is currently a strategic location for transnational drug trafficking. The methodology of this research is based primarily on an ethnographic immersion in Ceará's peripheral neighborhoods over the last ten years, using methods such as direct and participant observation in bars, taverns, football fields, fairs, squares, night clubs, public spaces, and other locations; field diary entries; open-ended dialogue; systematic interviews, etc. The article initially examines the organization of gangs in Ceará prior to 2015, a year that marked a significant shift, as these groups began to openly occupy the outskirts of Ceará. It then analyzes the period of "peace," a period in which gangs entered into an armistice and homicide rates fell dramatically in the state, not due to a public security policy, but due to agreements between non-state armed groups. The work then provides a historical and sociological contextualization of the "war" between gangs in Ceará, which has been ongoing since 2017, and highlights the major social transformations in criminal relations that emerged from this new factional configuration. Finally, the research addresses sociological aspects and factual events that demonstrate that Ceará is currently a highly relevant territory for gangs in international drug trafficking.

Keywords: Factions in Ceará. Social conflicts. International drug trafficking.