São Paulo (EFE).- The governments of Brazil and the United States formalized on Friday a bilateral security cooperation agreement in Brasilia aimed at dismantling international criminal networks and combating arms trafficking.
The pact, called the Mutual Interdiction Team, establishes an operational partnership between Brazil’s Federal Revenue Secretariat, which oversees customs, and the US Customs and Border Protection.
The centerpiece of the initiative is the launch of the DESARMA program, a computer system that uses a mutual alert system to notify authorities and enable them to share real-time data when Brazilian customs detect products of US origin linked to weapons, ammunition, explosives, or sensitive components.
The program will also register serial numbers, cargo routes, and exporter profiles to map illicit networks from their origin.
Brazilian Minister of Finance Dario Durigan, who announced the agreement, emphasized that it is the result of direct dialogue between Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and US President Donald Trump. The two leaders are pursuing a bilateral agenda focused on combating drug trafficking and arms smuggling.
The development of this agenda accelerated following technical visits to Foz do Iguaçu to evaluate the Triple Frontier region, where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet, considered a critical point for illegal trade.
According to official data, 35 shipments containing approximately 550 kilograms of weaponry (1,168 pieces), primarily from Florida, were intercepted in the last 12 months. These shipments were hidden under fraudulent declarations or camouflaged.
Guarulhos International Airport, located in São Paulo, is Brazil’s busiest airport. Drug seizures there jumped from 89 kg in 2024 to 1,562 kg in the first quarter of 2026, and authorities identified new methods of concealing drugs in consumer products, such as pet food.
During a press conference after the announcement, Durigan explained that all cargo and containers leaving US ports bound for Brazil will undergo «a kind of X-ray» to identify their contents.
The bilateral pact was announced just over a month before the first Shield of the Americas Summit with other regional leaders from the conservative camp. A new regional security forum spearheaded by Washington, which Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declined to attend.
Amid a thaw in their relationship following the diplomatic crisis triggered by US tariffs, which reached 50% on Brazilian products, Lula and Trump had planned to meet at the White House in March. However, the conflict in the Persian Gulf has left that meeting in limbo. EFE
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