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Transnational Crime On December 4, 2020, the Brazilian Federal Police (PF, in Portuguese) arrested one of Brazil’s main wildlife traffickers, rescuing some 200 animals bound for the black market. These results were achieved under the second phase of Operation Urutau, which was carried out in five Brazilian states, with investigations launched in 2019. The trafficker, Roberto Augusto Martinez Filho, aka Zé do…
Transnational Crime The Colombian Army, in coordination with the Office of the Attorney General, dismantled the narcotrafficking ring Los Cirujanos (The Surgeons), which recruited young women to smuggle cocaine into Europe inside their breasts. Authorities arrested nine criminals in different operations in the cities of Cali and Medellín. The criminal organization “convinced women to transport the drug inside prostheses in their breasts…
Security & Cooperation The Brazilian and Argentine armies carried out Operation Arandu at Barão de São Borja Training Camp, in Rosário do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, November 14-20, 2020. The joint exercise, coordinated by the Brazilian Southern Military Command (CMS, in Portuguese), ends a cycle that started in 2017, with three prior operations, Hermandad in 2017, Yaguareté and Saci/Duende in 2019. A…
Strategic Influence China offers predatory loans that lead countries to become over-indebted, makes seemingly disinterested donations, and its companies make large infrastructure investments. This tactic is not new, and the Asian nation uses it to expand its influence in strategic areas around the world. The goal is always the same: to create economic and political dependence, while gaining a presence in vital…
Transnational Crime In mid-November, the Colombian Military Forces’ Joint Task Force Omega (FUTCO, in Spanish) captured three leaders of the Jorge Briceño Suárez narcoterrorist group, a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish). With the support of the National Police and the Office of the Attorney General, authorities carried out simultaneous operations in Guaviare, Meta, and Magdalena…
Security & Cooperation The Frigate Independência docked at the Rio de Janeiro Naval Base on December 26, 2020, completing one of the most important international participations in the history of the Brazilian Navy (MB, in Portuguese). The vessel, with some 200 service members, was part of the 20th and last contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Maritime Task Force (UNIFIL-MTF). UNIFIL-MTF,…
Strategic Influence In November, the Peruvian government passed a decree ordering all foreign-flagged vessels operating in Peruvian waters to use an additional satellite device starting January 1, 2021. This will enable authorities to know the routes and movements of each vessel with greater precision. On October 18, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Luis Gallego told EFE news agency that a mostly Chinese-flagged fishing fleet…
Transnational Crime The Colombian Military Forces General Command (CGFM, in Spanish) told the press on November 25, 2020, that the Army had neutralized Marco Tulio Salcedo, alias Duver, chief financial officer of the Miller Perdomo criminal group, in Solano municipality, Caquetá department. “This individual was allegedly [...] in charge of extortions and kidnappings; illegal financing of narcotrafficking products; recruitment, especially of minors;…
Transnational Crime Daniel Ortega insists on controlling humanitarian aid in emergency situations. He recently blocked the actions of civil organizations to deliver medicine, clothing, and food aid to thousands of people affected by hurricanes Eta and Iota in Nicaragua, between November 3-16, 2020. “The Ortega regime has hidden information, has forsaken thousands of families who lost their income, has sabotaged support activities…
Transnational Crime Despite a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Rewards Program in Colombia continued to be successful. In 2020, the program enabled Colombia’s security forces to conduct 14 operations against the narcoterrorist organizations of the Clan del Golfo, dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish) and the National Liberation Army (ELN,…
Transnational Crime Members of the Paraguayan National Anti-Drug Secretariat (SENAD, in Spanish) and the Brazilian Federal Police (PF, in Portuguese) destroyed 494.6 tons of marijuana during Operation New Alliance (Operación Nueva Alianza) XXIII, which ended on November 13, 2020. With the support of two PF helicopters, SENAD agents operated in forest areas in Amambay department for 10 days, where they destroyed narcotraffickers’…
South America U.S. Ambassador to Ecuador Michael J. Fitzpatrick and Consul General Brian S. Quigley, Jr. delivered two field hospitals, which U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) acquired for the Ecuadorean government. The official handover ceremonies were held on December 16, 2020, in Quito and Guayaquil, respectively. The donation, made on behalf of the American people, is valued at $750,000. It was part of…
