Transfers of Maranhão prisoners underway

The government of the state of Maranhão has initiated inmate transfers from Pedrinhas penitentiary in capital São Luís to federal maximum security prisons. The State Department of Justice and Prison Administration (SEJAP) has not yet disclosed the listing of prisoners who have been moved out using a Federal Police airplane since the operation began on Monday (Jan. 20).

Creating places in federal prisons for gang leaders in Maranhão is part of a series of steps announced by the state government and the Ministry of Justice in response to an upsurge in violence within and outside of local jails.

Translated by Mayra Borges