Gang War Spills Blood in Brazil's Prisons

An inmate displays a makeshift knife moments after police left the prison in the Alcacuz prison in Nisia Floresta, near Natal, Brazil, Jan. 24, 2017.

Brazil has been hit by a wave of deadly gang clashes in prisons in the north and northeast regions since the start of the year. At least 140 inmates have been killed in the violence, many decapitated or mutilated.

The clashes are the result of a split between Brazil's most powerful drug gang, the First Capital Command, or PCC, and the second-most powerful gang, the Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command.

Inmates watch as police officers enter Alcacuz prison amid tension between rival gangs on Jan. 21.

Military police took control of the prison in northeastern Brazil after fighting between rival gangs left 26 inmates dead.

The disturbances in Brazilian jails began on Jan. 1 with a clash in a Manaus prison in Amazonas state where the powerful North Family gang killed 56 inmates, mostly PCC members.

Inmates watch as another inmate who was injured during fighting is lifted on a stretcher by police and firefighters at Alcacuz prison on Jan. 20.

The series of riots and grisly killings has put a spotlight on overcrowding, underfunding and understaffing in the prison system. For instance, Alcacuz is home to more than 1,000 inmates, though it was built for 620. 

A wing of the prison is set on fire by inmates during a clash between gangs at Alcacuz prison on Jan.19.

Inmates are seen during an uprising at Alcacuz prison, Jan. 20.

Special Operations Command personnel stand by an empty prison cell in the Ansio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in Manaus, Amazonas on Jan. 14.

Authorities in Brazil are under pressure to crack down on crime, in general, and many states have struggled to do that in the context of shrinking budgets amid an economic recession.

Prisoners about to be transferred from the Baldomero Cavalcanti de Oliveira Prison in Maceio to the new Agreste Maximum Security Penitentiary in the neighboring municipality of Girau do Ponciano, also in the northeastern Brazilian state of Alagoas on Jan. 16.

The transfer of 240 prisoners came in response to two killings on January 12. 

Inmates gesture in front of police officers after they delivered meals to them during an uprising at Alcacuz prison on Jan. 23.

Riot policemen carry their weapons during an uprising at Alcacuz prison on Jan. 21.

Much of the prison appears to have been damaged in the previous week. From a vantage point outside, holes could be seen in the walls and rooftops of buildings within the complex.

Riot policemen do a head count of inmates at Alcacuz on Jan. 24.

A improvised wall of metal shipping containers separates two rival gangs at Alcacuz prison on Jan. 23.

Military police search relatives of inmates as part of an operation to look for items that are on the prison contraband list at Alcacuz prison on Jan. 23.

Women relatives of inmates set makeshift barricades on fire in protest for the transfer of some 200 prisoners from the Alcacuz prison to other prisons in Rio Grande do Norte on Jan. 18.

Brazilian authorities said they were deploying 1,000 troops to "clean out" arms and cellphones from restive prisons.

Prisoners during a riot at Alcacuz prison on Jan. 17.

Relatives of inmates protest against the transfer of prisoners to another prison in front of Alcacuz prison on Jan. 18.

Inmates are seen on a roof at Alcacuz prison on Jan. 17. 

Inmates transport bodies after a prison riot in Natal on Jan. 15.

Relatives of inmates wait for news outside Alcacuz prison after a fight between rival gangs left at least 30 prisoners dead on Jan. 15.

Relatives attend the funeral of one of the inmates who died during a prison riot, at the cemetery of Taruma in Manaus on Jan. 4.