Rio de Janiero (CNN) – Brazilian police have arrested 10 people suspected of planning terrorist acts during the Olympics, Brazil’s Justice Ministry said Thursday.
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The individuals detained on Thursday were being monitored because they had accessed websites linked to IS, but the group had no preparation at all, the minister said.
10 men have been arrested in Brazil in connection with an alleged terror plot targeting the olympics.
Authorities had been observing the group’s online activity for several weeks following the exchange of messages and videos praising IS, and that monitoring intensified after direct contact was made with the terrorist organization, De Moraes said.
Global media report the minister, Alexandre Moraes, describing the cell as “absolute amateurs” and “ill-prepared” to launch an attack.
All of the suspects are Brazilian and one was a minor, The Guardian reported.
Brazilian police swooped on 10 people suspected of plotting terror attacks in the country during the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.
Prior to the arrests, reports indicated that the first organized group in South America had pledged allegiance to ISIS which was sparking concerns for the safety of the Rio Olympics.
The suspects were Brazilian citizens who communicated with each other via messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
Last week, Brazil said it was bolstering security for the August 5-21 Olympics following the deadly lorry attack in the French city of Nice, which killed 84 people and left scores badly wounded.
What may have been their biggest tell was one member’s attempt to purchase an AK-47 in Paraguay, which according to Moraes was a very “amateur” move.
“Brazil will have more than double the security that London had during the last Olympics – but there are concerns that the country is not prepared to deal with global terrorism”. For example, Moraes says that the ISIS sympathizers were planning to take martial arts classes leading up to the attack. This number is more than double the security that had been enlisted during the 2012 London Games.
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“All threats related to the Rio 2016 Games are being meticulously investigated, particularly those related to terrorism”, the Brazilian intelligence agency ABIN said in a statement.
