Executive Summary

In Brazil, organised criminal groups now hold considerable control over Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in major cities and we anticipate that they will move this practice into smaller urban centers in the years to come. Control of internet services builds on a previously developed model of crime groups controlling other utilities–such as gas and drinking water–in low-income neighborhoods. In particular, this new business represents an increase in sophistication and diversification. The gangs leverage the ISPs to expand their territorial domain and drug trafficking. They act by extorting and corrupting legal ISP workers, as well as targeting and attacking the vehicles of the ISPs. 

Images Sourced From: FreedomHouse, Marcelo Horn, chensiyuan, Agência Brasil