In parallel, Brazilian police on Thursday ordered the detention of 12 people who allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group via social media and discussed possible attacks during the games.
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In a statement, the Justice Ministry said it began monitoring messages sent between the group, which called itself Defenders of Sharia, in April.
Moraes, however, does not seem to be particularly anxious about the two still at large, claiming “they were complete amateurs and ill-prepared…a few days ago they said they should start practicing martial arts, for example”.
“He said the group were “complete amateurs, and ill-prepared” to actually launch an attack but he said even seemingly disorganised groups had to be taken seriously”. “A few days ago they said they should start practicing martial arts, for example”.
An emergency meeting of the Brazilian cabinet has been called.
Moraes expressed little concern over terrorism at the Olympics at a press conference on Thursday morning and said that, “The biggest concern is still crime”.
“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 worldwide terrorism”.
De Moraes said the group’s leader was based in Curitiba, capital of Parana state.
Brazil’s intelligence agency said earlier this week that it was investigating threats to the Rio Olympics, which start August 5 after a purported Islamist group pledged allegiance to ISIS, according to Reuters.
Two more suspects are being hunted by police.
Concerns over security at the Olympics have increased over the past few weeks, but officials say they are more anxious about street crime and gang activity than terrorist attacks.
He said a member of the group had contacted a clandestine weapons site in neighboring Paraguay that sells AK-47 assault rifles, but there was no evidence they acquired any weapons.
Although yet unconfirmed, Globonews reported that members of the group were affiliated with Islamic State militants, according to the Reuters news agency.
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Brazilian authorities have arrested 10 people suspected of planning terrorist attacks during next month’s Rio Olympics. “The odds of a terrorist attack occurring in Brazil during the Olympics are minimal”.
