Brzilian lawmakers announced they are seeking to question an imprisoned gang leader suspected of having ordered the onslaught of violence that killed nearly 200 in and around Sao Paulo last month. Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, known as Marcola, heads the First Capital Command criminal organization, known by its Portuguese initials PCC. Beginning May 12, the PCC unleashed a weeklong Sao Paulo killing spree that included uprisings in more than 70 prisons and attacks against police stations with grenades and automatic weapons. The attacks were triggered after authorities sought to transfer PCC leaders to remote prisons. The lawmakers said they hope to find out if Camacho was tipped off to the planned police crackdown against his group. Maria Cristina Rachado and Sergio Wesley da Cunha, two of the gang’s lawyers, allegedly bought a tape of police telling lawmakers of their plans two days before the attacks began. The two attorneys, who deny any wrongdoing, have been ordered to turn in their passports pending an investigation. The lawmakers will also ask the PCC leader, currently held in the Presidente Bernardes state penitentiary, if he negotiated an end to the violence with Sao Paulo city and state authorities. (Fox News, June 8)
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