FAB releases data on efforts at airports in the context of GLO
Air Force Agency, by Lieutenant Marize Torres
As the security forces work to combat organized crime through the Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO), the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) has been carrying out preventive and repressive actions at the international airports of Guarulhos, in São Paulo, and Galeão, in Rio de Janeiro. In conjunction with the other government agencies involved, Air Force Number 34 (FAN 34), subordinate to the Aerospace Operations Command (COMAE), has released the first assessment of Operation Air Bridge, which completed 15 days on November 21.
The activities are carried out in collaboration with the Federal Police, the Federal Revenue Service, the Federal Highway Police, the National Health Surveillance Agency, the Military and Civil Police of both states, working in the operational area of the international airports of Galeão and Guarulhos, in the areas of baggage handling, inspection of suspicious cargo or passengers and employees who are in the routine of the airports, with the help of sniffer dogs, patrols of the perimeters of the airports with the use of vehicles and armed military personnel working at sensitive points and also carrying out patrols in the lobbies.
Search action
Searches by Operation Air Bridge are being carried out as discreetly as possible, always respecting the integrity and rights of each employee or passenger, without interfering with the flow of aircraft or coming and going.
In the first 15 days of the operation, 358 people and 51 vehicles were searched, in accordance with the premises of preserving the physical, psychological and moral integrity of the person being searched.
Hours of patrolling and sniffing
Patrol activities totaled 230 hours and 10 minutes, while sniffing activities totaled 35 hours and 40 minutes, reaching a volume of around 4,102 cubic meters, which is equivalent to approximately 70 large trucks.
Inter-agency cooperation
In all, there have already been approximately 77 hours of interagency operations, i.e. involving other security forces and agencies. According to the words of the Deputy Commander of Operation Air Bridge, Infantry Brigadier José Roberto de Queiroz Oliveira, this can be considered the first joint and cooperative operation, with a specific assignment, to work synergistically with other federal agencies, such as the Federal Police, Federal Highway Police, Federal Revenue Service and other agencies involved in the airport area, with the common goal of improving the fight against drug trafficking, arms trafficking and other illicit conduct.
Numbered Air Force 34
A Numbered Air Force (FAN – Força Aérea Numerada) is an Air Force Operational Command organized for the execution of a mission with specific objectives and a limited duration, and is deactivated once the mission has been accomplished.
In Operation Air Bridge, FAN 34 was created with the attributions of planning, coordinating and executing the control and supervision of all aerospace actions, in accordance with the directives demanded from the higher echelons; collecting, processing and evaluating results, costs and lessons learned; and strengthening relations with the other singular forces and government agencies.
Photos: Sergeant Neris / CECOMSAER