US, Brazil, Paraguay Meet to Fight Transnational Organized Crime

Some of the top minds in law enforcement from the U.S., Brazil and Paraguay had a meeting this week to devise tactics to combat the growing problem of transnational organized crime (TOC), the Rio Times reported Friday (Feb. 18).

Held on behalf of Paraguay at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior by Paraguayan Minister of the Interior Arnaldo Giuzzio, the primary goal of the of the gathering was to devise a communications platform for the sharing of intelligence, according to the report.

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The global agencies are aiming to bring about established points of inter-institutional cooperation that would serve as a means of sharing information between designees in different regions, the report stated. So far, the first stage of the meetings resulted in the establishment of bases in Ponta Porã in Brazil and Pedro Juan Caballero in Paraguay.

Although the chief concerns are money laundering, another scheme highlighted was cigarette smuggling, which was linked to former Paraguay President Horacio Cartes, according to the report. The interest in cigarette smuggling was also possibly connected to “operation Michel Jackson,” which also could have been connected to Cartes.

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The meeting at the Ministry of the Interior was attended by Giuzzio and Emilio Fuster, head of the Interinstitutional Unit for the Prevention, Combat and Repression of Smuggling (UIC), the report stated. U.S. officials in attendance were not named.

At the end of the meeting, Giuzzio said discussion details mostly had to remain under wraps, but he said progress is being made to develop a bipartite command to carry out joint operations, according to the report.

Giuzzio already held meetings with Brazilian authorities in Foz do Iguaçú, Brazil and in Asunción, Paraguay.