| Founded | early 1980s |
|---|---|
| Founders | Pianinho and Adilson Balbino |
| Founding location | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Years active | early 1980s-2006 |
| Membership | drug trafficking, arms trade, and bank robbery[1] |
| Rivals | Comando Vermelho, |
Terceiro Comando (Portuguese for Third Command) was a Brazilian criminal organization engaged in drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro.[1] It was founded in the early 1980s[1] and is a break-away faction of the Comando Vermelho.[2]
The Terceiro Comando has fought several small-scale conflicts (in 2001 and 2004) with the rival gang Comando Vermelho.[1]
The organization has no sole leader and is instead a horizontal reciprocity based network that helps member-gangs in different favelas as they attempt to acquire drugs and guns.[1]