International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 2, Spring 2020 | Page 93

International Journal on Criminology
fenses, on their own or in coordination with other executive bodies,
by implementing, among others, the following actions:
I – Patrols;
II – Inspections of persons, land vehicles, ships, and aircraft;
III – Arrests in flagrante delicto.
Here again, it is important to underline the complementarity between the
actions of public security bodies and the armed forces. The actions of the Brazilian
Army beyond the borders are not intended to substitute those of the Federal Police,
whose role it is to combat transnational crimes.
In June 2011, the federal government launched the Strategic Borders Plan
(SBP), aiming to strengthen the state’s presence in the regions that border Brazil’s
ten neighboring countries. As a result of the plan, the actions of various state bodies
to prevent and combat cross-border crime—such as the smuggling of weapons
and drugs—began to be integrated, amplifying their impact. The SBP, under the
direct authority of the Vice-President of the Republic, is organized around two
operations: Sentinel and Ágata.
Operation Sentinel, coordinated by the Ministry of Justice, is largely focused
on investigative work, intelligence, and the coordination of multiple federal
security agencies.
Operation Ágata, coordinated by the Ministry of Defense and the chiefs
of staff of the armed forces, mobilizes navy, army, and air force personnel locally
around strategic points on the border. In September 2018, for example, this operation
enabled the seizure of 1.4 metric tons of narcotics on the border between
Brazil and Paraguay in just four days. This year, it looks as though the results will
surpass the record of 2016, when more than 11 metric tons were seized.
Aside from the SBP, the Brazilian Army defends its territory with a twenty-four-hour
presence on its borders. As such, it has considerable autonomy and
scope to contribute to the fight against crime, particularly in areas of the country
where the presence of the Brazilian state is only evident in the presence of troops
(in certain areas of the Amazon, for example). Compare the efforts of these troops
to the words of the Commander-in-Chief of the Brazilian Army, who recently stated
that organized crime and the trafficking associated with it constitute “the greatest
threat to the sovereignty of Brazil at the present time.”
In the effort to strengthen actions on the border, the Integrated Border
Monitoring System (SISFRON) was designed on the initiative of the Brazilian
Army command, following the triple principle of surveillance/control,
mobility, and physical presence. The central idea of this system is to strengthen
the Brazilian state’s surveillance and response capacity on its land borders,
and indirectly to fight more effectively against transnational criminal activity.
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