In the report on the planned Rio attack, Gomart told the commission that he had been informed of the plot – planned by a Brazilian national – “by our partners”.
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“The group was inspired by ISIS and only had contact with the group online, Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes said”.
“Many are dismissed and those that deserve attention are investigated exhaustively”, ABIN said. SITE also says that a channel on Telegram has been posting Portuguese-language translations of IS terrorist manuals, and has also issued a call for recruits, saying “Lone wolf from anywhere in the world can move to Brazil now”.
The message also suggested using the games to target the enemies of jihad, including Western athletes.
Since Thursday’s attack in Nice where a truck ploughed through crowds during Bastille Day celebrations, Brazil has sought to reassure the global community that the Games will be safe and terrorist threats are being taken seriously.
In addition to the deployment of 85,000 police officers and soldiers, double the force used at the London Olympics, the new measures will include extra checkpoints, barricades, road blocks and traffic restrictions.
“There is not a specific threat”, Lt. Gen. Luiz Linhares of Brazil’s Ministry of Defense said. He declined to identify their nationalities.
The arrest comes after the first public declaration, by a group naming itself “Ansar al-Khilafah Brazil”, of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Its creation came 5-weeks before the Rio Olympic Games 2016 in Brazil, a Portuguese speaking country.
“There’s nothing new here. We have met congressmen and federal authorities many times to express the need for such legislation”, Lottenberg said. But the authorities are monitoring it, ” he said.
Brazilian officials said they are sharing information not just among themselves but with foreign governments.
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The Rio Olympics already faces a big problem in the ongoing Zika epidemic, with many athletes deciding to skip the Games and expected attendance is down due to their fear that they may get bitten by some stray mosquito and get infected with the Zika virus with its fearsome consequences.
