Special police group to combat arms trafficking in Rio

An intelligence group comprising approximately 30 men from Brazil's federal, civil, and military police will fight against arms trafficking in Rio de Janeiro. The initiative aims to combat international crimes. It has been approved by the Ministry of Justice and should start on March 23.

José Mariano Beltrame, secretary for public security in Rio de Janeiro state, pointed out that the team's job will be to investigate major cases, from the entry of weapons and other equipment into the country to drugs coming from other states. “We mustn't wait for the outcome of gun tracking operations to start drawing out routes and work on them. International manufacturers are usually not interested in providing data on buyers, as they produce and sell weapons according to the law in effect in their own country,” he said.

Beltrame noted that one should not depend on manufacturers, and that work should be carried out diligently. “Probes will not stop. Those police officers will continue the operation and work specifically on international plans, taking turns, so that the volume of data reaches the Subsecretariat of Intelligence of the Security Secretariat, in order to reduce the impact on the population.”

According to Rio's Public Public Security Secretariat, an increase has been observed in the amount of large weapons seized early this year in the state: 89 assault rifles—nearly twice as many as the same period last year. Most were recently manufactured, in countries such as Austria and Ukraine.

The secretariat further announced that agents specially chosen for the task were evaluated by the Subsecretariat of Intelligence and will be able to work all across the country. That team of officers will be incorporated into the National Force and receive training next week, from the National Police Academy, in Brasília.

Former Special Police Operations Battalion (Bope) captain Paulo Storani, who also holds a master's degree in Anthropology from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), told Agência Brasil that “the initiative is very welcome, as it calls in police agents who are familiar with the problems and are experts in the subject, urging the federal government, which has its own responsibility in public security, to give a response.”

In his view, the entry of drugs into the country and the increase in the number of weapons are among the biggest problems contributing to crime in Brazilian cities.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira

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