Moraes said the group – from 10 states around Brazil – had begun discussing carrying out an attack during the Olympics, though they had not mentioned any specific targets, and had celebrated the recent attacks in Orlando and Nice. The gender of the people was not given.
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In a statement, the justice ministry said that it had launched “Operation Hashtag to break up a group involved in the promotion of Islamic State and the preparation for carrying out terrorist attacks and other criminal acts”.
Members of the cell acknowledged that Brazil is a neutral country with no connection to the USA -led coalition attacking the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but Brazil became a target for them because it would be hosting many foreigners during the Olympic Games, de Moraes said.
Still, Moraes said even disorganized groups should be taken seriously.
Brazil’s intelligence agency ABIN is said to have worked with foreign counterparts to provide the information that led to the arrests, which were carried out by members of the police and armed forces mostly in the southern states of São Paulo and Parana.
The loosely organized group were all Brazilian citizens and in contact via internet messaging groups such as WhatsApp and Telegram, but did not know each other personally, the minister said. Several were allegedly trying to secure financing from the group, known by the acronym ISIS. “One of them had got in contact with an underground weapons site in Paraguay, asking to buy an AK-47 assault rifle”. The court-approved intercept of the communications found the group had sworn an allegiance to the Islamic State. Mr. Moraes said that Thursday’s antiterror operation was the first of its kind in Brazil’s history.
Officials did not raise the country’s terror alert level on Thursday following the raids.
The games begin less than three weeks from now, with the opening ceremony due to take place on August 5, and the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro had earlier warned of potential security concerns similar to those faced by London in the lead-up to the 2012 games. Authorities said they believe those two people will be arrested soon.
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