Alleged former PCC leader is arrested on the day of US designation "terrorist"

The DHS (United States Department of Homeland Security) announced that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) arrested, on June 5, a former leader of the criminal factions PCC (First Capital Command) and Red Command. On the same date, the designation of the two criminal factions as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) by the United States came into force.

According to American authorities, Felipe Linares de Oliveira Dell Aquilla, known as "Don", was arrested in Mooresville, North Carolina, after being chased by American agents.

In a note, released on Monday (15), the DHS states that Dell Aquilla previously served as commander of the PCC and the CV, classified by the US government as foreign terrorist organizations. Intelligence information indicated that he was holding his wife against her will as he prepared to flee to Mexico.

Dell Aquilla had an irregular immigration status and a criminal record in the USA. American authorities say he is also the target of an international warrant in Brazil for crimes of criminal association and extortion. According to authorities, he entered the country illegally at an unknown date and location.

As shown by CNN, on the same date as Dell Aquilla's detention by ICE, the designation of the CCP and the CV as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the US government came into effect and was published in the Federal Register, the official journal of the US federal government.

The determination signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio says "there is sufficient factual basis" to conclude that the PCC and CV qualify as Foreign Terrorist Organizations under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Before their inclusion on the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, PCC and Comando Vermelho had already been the target of another American sanction. On May 28, the US State Department classified the two factions as "Specially Designated Global Terrorists" (SDGT), a measure that came into effect on the same date.

The practical effects of the two designations are similar. Among them are the blocking of assets and resources, the prohibition of financial relations with the groups, immigration restrictions on their members and the obligation for banks and other financial institutions in the USA to report any assets linked to the organizations to the authorities. Failure to comply with these determinations may result in civil and criminal punishment.

The measures adopted by Washington do not have automatic application in Brazilian territory. To produce legal effects in Brazil, it would be necessary to incorporate it into the national legal system through specific legislation, a ratified international treaty or a binding decision by the UN Security Council.

With the new classification, PCC and Comando Vermelho now appear alongside more than 90 groups identified by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations. The list includes Hamas, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, as well as Latin American criminal organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel and Tren de Aragua, inserted during the Trump administration's offensive against drug trafficking in the region.

Under US rules, it is a crime to deliberately provide money, goods, services or any other type of material support to an entity classified as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, as long as the person is in the US or under its jurisdiction.

The classification also prevents members of these groups from entering American territory. Depending on the case, those already in the country may be removed by immigration authorities.

In Dell Aquilla's case, DHS says he was taken to the county jail, where he now faces state felony charges for fleeing to avoid arrest. HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), a division of ICE, is also seeking to bring charges of illegal alien possession of a firearm and kidnapping, while ICE has filed an immigration detention order.

Source: CNN