São Paulo Declares Cracolândia Over as Watchdogs Report Dispersal and Short-Term Fixes

Overview

• Governor Tarcísio de Freitas celebrated the end of the Cracolândia “flux,” while municipal officials and the state prosecutor Arthur Pinto Filho rejected that framing and described a spread across central São Paulo.
• On-the-ground reporting found users and street populations dispersed to nearby areas such as Rua dos Andradas, Marechal Deodoro and under the Minhocão, with GCM and PM patrols preventing new large concentrations.
• The Ministério Público reports many referrals to therapeutic communities and psychiatric hospitals, often described as voluntary stays of roughly 15 to 20 days, with limited follow-through on housing or care after discharge.
• Prosecutors say numerous users have been arrested as alleged traffickers, warning that convictions can hinge on GCM accounts even for small quantities, a practice officials dispute when confronted with accusations of truculence.
• City officials cite a 63% drop in robberies from May to September versus 2022 and business owners report storefronts reopening, as the state touts coordinated operations including Downtown and actions at the Favela do Moinho.