The confrontation has taken the form of prison rebellions culminating in massacres . At the end of 2016 , the first rebellion took place in Roraima with dead detainees . On January 1 , 2017 , 56 prisoners were killed after a riot at the Anísio Jobim ( Compaj ) Penitentiary Complex in Manaus , Amazonas , in the northern region of the country . Members of two rival gangs of drug trafficking , the Primeiro Comando da Capital ( PCC ) and the Família do Norte ( NDF ) ( allied to the Comando Vermelho ( CV ) ) clashed in what was considered the most violent massacre in the history of the Brazilian prison system since the slaughter of Carandiru ( 1992 ) . Five days later , 33 prisoners were killed in the Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo riot , located in the rural area of Boa Vista , Roraima , also in the North . According to Folha de S.Paulo , the massacre in Roraima was a response of the PCC to the rebellion commanded by the FDN in the Amazon . Even more people were killed later on in the month
slaughter of Carandiru
Carandiru massacre
2017 Brazil prison riots