States in Brazil's Southeast Take Action to Prevent Criminals Who Escape Rio From Entering

02/23/2018 - 12h03

Now that the federal government has intervened in Rio de Janeiro and deployed to army to oversee public security activities, there is a chance that criminals may flee to states such as São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. These states are now preparing to boost surveillance along their borders.

Defense Minister Raul Jungmann said on Thursday (the 22nd) that, in light of the intervention, the migration of criminal organizations to other states was "plausible".

After having lunch with the country's Armed Forces, the minister acknowledged that the government is concerned with this possibility stating that, when public security measures are effective, criminal activity tends to move elsewhere.

"I think it's plausible because migration of the sort occurs within states like Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco and Goiás. When there is greater efficiency, crime migrates in one form or another. This is a concern and we need to be careful so that it doesn't gain momentum", Mr. Jungmann said.

The minister cited a Gaeco statistic in order to get the point across that crime is currently a national issue.

Gaeco, which is a group that was designed to counter organized crime, says that, from 2014 to 2016, the number of convicts in Brazil's prisons affiliated to criminal organization First Command of the Capital (PCC) jumped from 3,000 to 13,000.

On the same day Mr. Jungmann issued these statements, Minister of Justice Torquato Jardim met with public security secretaries from other southeastern states, announcing an agreement that had been elaborated in order to reduce the "likely consequences" that the intervention in Rio de Janeiro could lead to in neighboring states.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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	Danilo Verpa/Folhapress
	Members of the armed forces patrol the Vila Kennedy slum during an operation against crime in Rio de Janeiro