Brazil and US launch joint action to fight organized crime

SAO PAULO — The Brazilian government on Friday announced a joint initiative with the U.S. ​to combat organized crime, involving the integration of data from Brazil's federal tax authority with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The move comes as ‌President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva steps up efforts on public security, a key issue in Latin America's ⁠largest economy, as he seeks a ​new term in October's general election.

Lula ⁠has seen his lead in opinion polls evaporate, with surveys now pointing to ‌a run-off tie with ‌his main rival, right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.

Since last year, Brazil's tax ⁠authority has played a central role in ⁠major operations uncovering money laundering schemes linked to criminal organizations in the fuel sector, identifying multiple operations abroad.

Lula has publicly called on President Donald Trump to arrest the owner of Refit, one of the main companies involved in the scheme, who resides in the United States.

Still, there are tensions ‌between the U.S. and Brazilian governments regarding the ​best approach to tackle organized crime.

Last year, U.S. officials had asked Brazil to label major gangs as terrorist organizations, but Brazilians refused to do so.

According to a government statement on Friday, the joint initiative aims to integrate intelligence efforts to intercept illicit shipments of weapons and narcotics.

Brazil's tax revenue secretary, Robinson Barreirinhas, said more than 1,100 weapons arriving from the United States had been ​seized over the past 12 months, adding that authorities confiscated more than 1.5 tons of ‌drugs in the ‌first quarter ⁠alone, mainly synthetic drugs and hashish.

Finance Minister Dario Durigan said the agreement was made possible after talks between Lula and Trump gained momentum.

The Brazilian government had hoped the announcement would coincide with an in‑person meeting between Lula and Trump, originally ‌expected in March. The meeting ​did not materialize and now has no ‌clear timeline following the ⁠outbreak of the ​U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

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