Dourados (MS) – From June 26 to 30, troops from the 4th Mechanized Cavalry Brigade (4th Bda C Mec) will carry out Operation Ágata Guaicurus II, Operation of Cooperation and Coordination with Agencies (OCCA), in the border strip. The action takes place in conjunction with the Public Safety and Inspection Agencies (OSPF), intensifying actions to combat trans-border illegalities and environmental crimes in the western and southern borderlands of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
The technical and tactical operational employment, with surveillance and intelligence actions, aims to prevent and repress the action of criminals in this part of the Brazilian territory. The activities are focused on fighting crimes such as smuggling, embezzlement, and drug trafficking, and they also promote the preservation of the environment and social civic actions, including on indigenous lands, offering dental care and a cultural presentation by the Music Band.
About a thousand military personnel, 70 vehicles, and two helicopters are being employed in the actions of inspections, checks, searches, patrols, and the operation of road blockade and control posts (PBCE).
The Operation is coordinated by the 4th Bda C Mec Command, in cooperation with the Federal Police, Federal Highway Police, Military Police of the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Department of Border Operations, Civil Police, and Federal, State, and Municipal Inspection Agencies, in an Interagency environment, aiming to increase the sense of security of the population in the borderland strip.
It is important to highlight that the troops of the 4th Mechanized Cavalry Brigade, a Strategic Employment Force of the Brazilian Army, have modern and technological means from the Army’s Strategic Program – Integrated Border Monitoring System (SISFRON), which increases their operational capacity and allows them to contribute significantly to the prevention, control, inspection, and repression of border crimes.
Operation Ágata Conjunta Sul fights cross-border crimes in the south of the country
Porto Alegre (RS) – Ágata Conjunta Sul is an interagency operation coordinated by the Ministry of Defense that aims to carry out preventive and repressive actions on land and sea borders against cross-border and environmental crimes, in coordination with federal and state security and inspection agencies. On the ground since July 1st, the Operation is being carried out in the Southern Region of Brazil – Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul.
The Ágata Operation is integrated by: the Brazilian Navy, the Brazilian Army, the Brazilian Air Force, the Federal Police, the Federal Highway Police, the Internal Revenue Service, ABIN, IBAMA, Anvisa, ICMBio, ANATEL, the Secretaries of Public Security/Military Police/Civil Police/Military Fire Brigade and the Secretaries of Agriculture of the Southern Region states, as well as other federal, state, and municipal inspection agencies.
The Brazilian State, in an interagency way, is carrying out surveillance and patrolling in various points of the coastal and border areas in the Southern Region of the country.
Operation with the Armies of Paraguay and Uruguay
This year, for the first time ever, Operation Ágata Conjunta Sul is being carried out simultaneously with the armies of Paraguay and Uruguay, so that the same actions carried out in Brazil take place on the borders of these neighboring countries.
Transnational crimes such as drug trafficking, arms trafficking, smuggling and environmental crimes are reflected in violence in the border cities, with direct repercussions in the country’s large capitals. The success of the operation depends on the effective participation of the population, because what we want is a safe border for everyone.
All control of Operation Agate South is done directly from the Operations Coordination Center (CCOP) of the Southern Military Command (CMS), in Porto Alegre (RS), where the Joint Command South is located, responsible for receiving and coordinating all the operation’s actions in real time.
The Federal Constitution of Brazil establishes that the strip of up to 150 km wide along the land borders is considered fundamental to the defense of the national territory, the primary function of the Armed Forces, as stated in Article 142 of the Federal Constitution of 1988.
The action of the Armed Forces, through preventive and repressive actions, in the fight against trans-border and environmental crimes in the borderland, including inland waters and maritime coast, is supported by Complementary Law No. 97, of June 9, 1999, and Decree No. 8,903, of November 16, 2016.