Adding even more complications to the already problematic Rio Summer Olympic games, Brazilian police officers arrested 10 people Thursday for allegedly plotting a terror attack during the games.
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The “absolutely amateur” suspects were in contact via messaging apps and appeared not to know each other personally, the minister was quoted as saying. Brazil is beefing up security measures throughout the Olympic games to protect people not only from terror, but from gang violence too, placing more than 80,000 police and soldiers on patrol.
Moraes said they had all been “baptized” as Islamic State sympathizers online and none had actually travelled to Syria or Iraq, the group’s stronghold, or received any training.
He said members of the group had visited a weapons site in neighbouring Paraguay that sells AK-47 assault rifles, but there was no evidence they had acquired any weapons.
Another two suspects have warrants out for their arrests.
– ReutersBrazilian marines take part in a security exercise ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, July 21, 2016.
Brazilian Defense Minister, Raul Jungmann, said authorities had been monitoring the group for some time.
An emergency meeting of the Brazilian cabinet has been called.
The suspects are all Brazilians who reportedly pledged support to the Islamic State on a website.
The arrests were made in Brazil’s southern city of Parana. It was unclear whether those detained on Thursday have any relation with that group.
SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazil’s Islamic community supports police actions against a group of people suspected of planning attacks during the Olympics as long as the investigations are conducted in a transparent way, a Brazilian Muslim leader said Friday.
Authorities said any attack plan would have had little chance of coming to fruition, citing the group’s lack of resources and skills.
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This month, the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist activity, reported that pro-Islamic State messages were being exchanged via Telegram in Portuguese and that propaganda had been translated into Portuguese.
