Portugal arrests 'Hulk', top Brazilian druglord and PCC gang ringleader

Portugal arrested one of the main leaders of Brazil's largest criminal organisation, Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), after discovering he was running operations and laundering millions of euros from drug trafficking and fuel fraud in the country.

Ygor Daniel Zago, 44, known as "Hulk," and his wife Fernanda, 40, were arrested in Cascais on suspicion of criminal association, corruption and money laundering, the Polícia Judiciária announced on Sunday.

The couple lived quietly in a house rented for €10,000 in a private condominium in Cascais, according to national authorities.

Who is Ygor Daniel Zago?

Zago is considered one of Brazil's biggest drug traffickers and is recognised as one of the top leaders of the PCC. He was sentenced to 29 years in prison in Brazil in 2014 for his involvement in a transatlantic scheme linking the PCC to the mafia in the Balkans.

He remained free until 2021, when he was arrested with his wife during an operation against drug trafficking in São Paulo related to an investigation into members of the family of PCC leader Marcos Willians Herbas Camacho, known as Marcola.

While waiting for the appeal decision, Zago engaged in another criminal activity in 2023: "trade in fuel adulterated with methanol, corruption of public officials and concealment of assets and funds derived from these illegal activities," the Judicial Police said in a statement.

The statement said that in 2023, 30,000 litres of methanol were seized, leading to the discovery of the "Hulk" scheme.

Portuguese Jornal de Notícias newspaper reported Zago chose to hide in Portugal, where he arrived in May. The drug trafficker fled Brazil via Peru and then Italy before settling in the country.

Four months after Zago arrived in Portugal, his wife Fernanda joined him last September. Illegal funds linked to the criminal organisation were found in her bank account.

Zago was flagged by an Interpol Red Notice on 27 October and was wanted under cooperation mechanisms of foreign police forces, according to outlet SIC Notícias.

After almost a decade on the run from justice, Zago will be brought before the Lisbon Court of Appeal to be sentenced.

Criminal network with thousands of members

The PCC is the largest criminal organisation in Brazil and has around 20,000 members — with some estimates stating that the total number could be even higher, with the gang consisting of as many as 40,000 lifetime members plus 60,000 contractors.

According to investigations, the group controls a large part of the Brazilian fuel market.

The group's leader Marcola is a Brazilian criminal associated with bank robberies, drug trafficking, homicides and terrorist activities.

The criminal organisation was founded in 1993 as a jail network by Marcola with the initial aim of protecting prisoners from and strengthening links between inmates.

It eventually evolved into varied criminal activities including drug trafficking, robberies, money laundering, corruption and intimidation, as well as control of the prison system. The PCC has strong relationships with foreign mafias, including the organised crime groups in the Balkans.

Marcola has been in prison since 1999 and is serving accrued sentences totalling more than 300 years.

In June, the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office revealed that Portugal is the European country with the most members of this criminal organisation.

Jornal de Notícias reported that 87 members of the PCC are based in the southern European country and 29 "are infiltrated in prisons, the favourite place of recruitment for this true criminal multinational."

The PCC's leaders also include André de Oliveira Macedo, known as André do Rap, who is currently in an unknown location after reportedly hiding in Portugal for a year. Only Paraguay, Venezuela, Bolivia and Uruguay have more PCC criminals residing in their country than Portugal.