SAO PAULO - Multiple suspects arrested for intentionally setting fire to sugarcane fields in Sao Paulo state have revealed their affiliation with an organized crime gang and claimed retaliation for government actions against crime, according to a senior state official on Tuesday.

Last week, fires broke out in parched fields during the country's dry season, swiftly engulfing thousands of hectares of sugarcane plantations and shrouding nearby cities in thick smoke. State Agriculture Secretary Guilherme Piai informed Reuters that the fires were not accidental, as they started simultaneously at different locations.

Citing suspicions, the government believes that Brazil's notorious organized crime gang, Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), was behind the deliberately-set fires as a response to measures aimed at combating the illegal trade of adulterated fuels. Piai stated, "We don't really know the motivation, but some said they were linked to PCC. Others naively wanted to take revenge against agribusiness, which is the driving force of Brazil's economy."

Piai further revealed that organized crime has acquired bankrupt fuel plants and hundreds of gas stations, suggesting that the fires may be a form of retaliation against government actions against organized crime. Established in 1993 by inmates at a high-security prison in Sao Paulo, PCC has grown to become Brazil's most powerful and feared criminal gang, transitioning from drug trafficking to various unlawful activities.

While Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro categorized the fires as criminal, no specific details were provided. Over 2,100 fires ravaged sugarcane fields, resulting in approximately 59,000 hectares (146,000 acres) of sugarcane areas and crop regrowth areas being destroyed. Sao Paulo accounts for about half of Brazil's sugarcane planting.

The fires have inflicted estimated losses of 350 million reais ($63.59 million) according to the Organization of Cane Producers Associations Orplana. State Governor Tarcisio de Freitas estimates that the overall damages to crops, properties, and other activities exceed 1 billion reais.

In the ongoing investigation, four men were arrested for being caught red-handed with containers of gasoline intending to ignite fields. Additionally, two more men were apprehended after being captured on security cameras setting fire to vegetation on Tuesday. However, federal prosecutor Luis Fernando Rocha clarified that, as of now, there is no evidence to indicate coordinated arson. "It was criminal. But so far we don't have elements to say that this was organized crime," Rocha stated.

Authorities are diligently working to bring those responsible for the destructive fires to justice while striving to protect the vital sugarcane industry in Sao Paulo state, grappling with immense financial losses and considerable damage to the local economy.