The criminal faction was founded in 2015, in Pavilion V of the Mata Escura Penitentiary Complex, in
Salvador. The group was born as an offshoot of a defunct criminal faction known as Caveira (), which had as its leader the bank robber José Francisco Lumes ("Zé de Lessa"), killed in a confrontation with military police officers from the Special Operations Battalion of the
Military Police of Mato Grosso do Sul, in 2019. In addition to Zé de Lessa, the criminal Ednaldo Freire Ferreira (Dadá) is also considered one of the founders of Bonde do Maluco. The gang is currently the largest criminal organization in Bahia, and the
Metropolitan Region, as well as the North-Central region of Bahia, the
Sertão region of Bahia, and the
Chapada Diamantina region. and expanded its operations to the states of
Sergipe,
Goiás, and
Alagoas. The criminal group is allied with the
Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). Its rivals include the
Comando Vermelho (CV) and Katiara within the Bahian capital, and in the interior of the state, it is said to have allies of the Rio de Janeiro gang, such as the Primeiro Comando de Eunápolis. In order to demarcate power, one of the symbols of Bonde do Maluco is the inscription of the organization's acronym (BDM) or the phrase "Tudo 3" ("All 3") on the walls of houses, businesses, sidewalks and public facilities. ==References==