How Brazil’s Largest Drug Trafficking Gang Launders Money Through Portuguese Football Clubs

Operators for Brazil's notorious PCC gang are allegedly seeking to buy lower-division clubs to launder illicit funds.

The PCC, Brazil’s largest criminal organization, long known for trafficking tons of cocaine to Europe, is now laundering millions through Portugal’s struggling football clubs.

A recent investigation revealed how one of the largest drug trafficking gangs in the world, Brazil’s First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital - PCC), has been making systematic attempts to launder money through vulnerable football clubs in Portugal.

Football agents and financial operators, all reliably connected to the PCC, have approached several clubs in Portugal’s third division to offer them large injections of cash in exchange for control, according to Portuguese journalist Paulo Curado writing in newspaper Público.

The Sports and Crime Briefing sat down with Curado to better understand the scheme and to track longstanding connections between the PCC and football clubs in Brazil.

So what happened in Portugal?

Throughout 2023, Ulises de Souza Jorge, a Brazilian agent connected to the PCC in prior investigations, approached three clubs to make them a financial offer, according to Curado. These clubs were Varzim SC, Felgueiras FC, and Vilaverdense FC.

Jorge seemed credible as an investor. He is the agent to Brazil and Real Madrid star, Éder Militão, and was acting through a British holding company, Universal Sports Limited (USL).

Ulisses Jorge celebrating with Éder Militão at Real Madrid. Source: Jornal de Brasilia

The clubs were desperate for cash. At Varzim SC, Jorge’s partners signed a memorandum of understanding in August 2023, promising €650,000 upfront and €4.5 million in long-term investments. However, €400,000 arrived in fragmented payments from suspicious sources, and €250,000 in cash—a violation of Portuguese tax law. This triggered the resignation of Varzim’s supervisory board in January 2024.

Attempts at similar deals at Vilaverdense and Felgueiras also fell through due to growing scrutiny.