Lula launches plan against organized crime in Brazil after talking to Trump

(AFP) Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched a program on Tuesday to combat organized crime, days after addressing the issue at a meeting in Washington with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, and five months away from seeking re-election.

"Today's act is a signal to tell organized crime that in a short time they will no longer be the owners of any territory," said Lula at an event in Brasilia, reported AFP.

Powerful criminal groups such as the Comando Vermelho (CV) and the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) control territories in Brazil such as favelas in Rio de Janeiro and other cities. They profit from narco-trafficking and other illegal businesses.

Insecurity is one of the central concerns of Brazilians and one of the most common reproaches to the leftist Lula, branded as lax by opponents.

The intelligence sharing agreement

"I told President Trump that if he was willing to seriously face the fight against organized crime, Brazil had experience and wanted to work together," the president said.

Brazil and the United States signed an agreement in April to exchange intelligence and customs data to curb arms and drug trafficking.

The plan announced Tuesday comes amid a debate over the possibility of the United States designating the CV and the PCC as terrorist groups, a designation rejected by Lula's government on the grounds of sovereignty.

The program aims at disarticulating the economic and operational structures of the criminal factions through their financial asphyxiation, combating money laundering and arms trafficking.

To this end, the government foresees direct resources of 1 billion reais (USD 200 million) by 2026 and an additional 10 billion reais (USD 2 billion) for states and municipalities to acquire specialized equipment such as drones, armored vehicles and body cameras.