Brazilian police have arrested 10 people suspected of planning terrorist acts during next month’s Rio Olympics, Brazil’s Justice Ministry said Thursday.
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Muggah said it is too early to tell whether today’s arrests constitute the squashing of a legitimate terror threat or represent jumpy authorities acting overzealously in the wake of recent terror attacks in Paris, Nice and elsewhere.
The Daily Mail reports that a terror plot has been thwarted by police in Brazil after evidence was uncovered that a group was planning weapons attacks at the Rio Olympics. They will remain in police custody for at least 30 days.
The group was inspired by ISIS and only had contact with the group online, Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes said.
“There was an order between them to start training in martial arts”, de Moraes said.
USA government sources have also mentioned that there has been an increase in terrorist chatter about the games, as they would be a highly symbolic target to strike, but nothing specific has been intercepted just yet. On Sunday, another channel vowed allegiance to IS, although its authenticity has not been vetted for authenticity, she said.
The arrests were made in Brazil’s southern city of Parana.
Mr Moraes said authorities seized computers, mobile phones and other equipment, but no weapons. Several were allegedly trying to secure financing from IS.
Furthermore, one of the suspects was intending to travel overseas to establish “personal contact” with members of that terrorist group but finally aborted those plans for financial reasons, the official said.
All of the suspects are Brazilian and one was a minor, The Guardian reported.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach attends a press conference following an Olympic summit on June 21, 2016 in Lausanne.
But he cautioned it was hard to say how serious this threat was.
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The Olympics have been widely controversial in Brazil, with almost two out of three Brazilians saying that hosting them will cause the country more harm than good, according to a recent opinion poll. He was arrested in France in 2009 after police had allegedly intercepted emails between himself and terrorist organizations.
