RIO DE JANEIRO — Fighting between rival gangs in a prison in northern Brazil on Saturday has reportedly left at least 10 inmates dead in the latest in a series of massacres in the South American country’s penitentiaries. Zemilton Silva, coordinator of the prison system, said “we could see the heads ripped off” three inmates. The last rebellion in Alcacuz prison was in November 2015, when a tunnel was discovered in one pavilion. The recent string of Brazilian prison violence began on Jan. 1-2, when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas. Experts say First Command, known by the Portuguese acronym PCC, is exploiting overcrowding and squalid conditions in the Brazil’s penitentiaries to expand its reach across the national prison system.

Source: Washington Post January 15, 2017 01:05 UTC