The Amazon International Police Cooperation Center (CCPI-Amazônia) is now operational in Manaus, Brazil, bringing together security forces from the nine Amazon countries — Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela — to combat transnational crimes that affect the region.
“Organized crime is no longer a local problem. It is a global scourge and can only be tackled through integrated, coordinated actions and the constant exchange of information and intelligence between countries,” Brazil’s Minister of Justice and Public Security Ricardo Lewandowski said at the June 17 launch. “The center represents a model of how integration and joint work can produce concrete results in the fight against transnational criminal organizations.”
The CCPI-Amazônia is designed to facilitate collaboration, including representatives from the Brazilian states of the Legal Amazon: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, and Tocantins. Multilateral organizations such as Interpol, Ameripol, and Europol may also join the efforts, enabling a daily and permanent flow of intelligence data and the coordination of joint operations and investigations.
The center’s structure includes an intelligence service, operations and logistics divisions, a video surveillance room, a crisis room, a press room, and other spaces dedicated to coordinated action. It is coordinated by the Federal Police (PF), in conjunction with the National Secretariat of Public Security, the Federal Highway Police, and the National Public Security Force.
“The integration will take place through joint action by official representatives of the countries that make up the Pan-Amazon region,” the PF Press Office told Diálogo. “The model is inspired by international ‘fusion centers,’ with shared work protocols, system interoperability, periodic meetings, and joint operation planning.”
With an estimated staff of 35 to 40 professionals, the CCPI-Amazônia provides for the physical presence of foreign liaison officers on a temporary basis, with a planned stay of one year. These representatives participate directly in the preparation of operational plans, intelligence analysis, and coordination with their home institutions, optimizing cooperation flows to combat cross-border crime. The CCPI also promotes the ongoing training of its members with tools such as the PF’s Center for Integration and Improvement in Environmental Policing in the Amazon, and the Ouro Alvo (Target Gold) project, which allows the exact origin of seized gold to be identified, and the Madeira de Lei (Hardwood Timber) initiative on forest crime.
According to the PF, the CCPI’s initial priorities include information sharing among members, followed by the mapping of the reality of each region and their common problems. Based on this assessment, integrated operational plans will be developed, focusing on transnational and interstate crimes affecting the Amazon biome, such as illegal deforestation, clandestine mining, and wildlife trafficking.
The CCPI is a key deliverable under the Amazon Plan: Security and Sovereignty (Plan Amas), a result of commitments made at the 2023 Amazon Summit with other Pan-Amazonian countries and the states of the Legal Amazon. Through the CCPI, the Brazilian government seeks to achieve greater effectiveness in investigations, dismantle criminal networks, and significantly reduce environmental and related crimes.
The PF explained that this integration respects the sovereignty and legal systems of each country, as actions are planned in a mirrored manner, with each nation executing its part of the operational plan within its own territory. The CCPI acts as a technical and strategic coordinator, promoting alignment and information exchange based on cooperation agreements and multilateral protocols. “The joint work can cover the entire Pan-Amazon region, as long as there is interest and agreement among the countries involved,” the PF statement said.
The armed forces may eventually participate in operations involving river, land, or air patrols, logistics support, and national defense activities, according to operational needs and joint planning.
“This is a milestone in international police cooperation and in the protection of the biome,” the PF statement concluded, adding that the CCPI aims to overcome challenges such as “the harmonization of different institutional cultures, the interoperability of systems, and the building of trust between the countries and agencies involved.” It seeks to consolidate larger-scale actions to protect the Amazon rainforest, based on integrated planning, shared intelligence, and the strengthening of the operational capabilities of the actors involved.
