Brazil and Partner Nations Enhance Riverine Security Against Transnational Crime

### Brazil's Amazon Region: A Strategic Corridor for Transnational Crime South America's great rivers have become strategic corridors for drug trafficking and transnational organized crime. The Brazilian Amazon, in particular, has seen growing competition among criminal organizations, including the First Capital Command (PCC), the Red Command (CV), and Colombian armed groups involved in cocaine trafficking, illegal mining, and illicit timber trade. Controlling these waterways means controlling one of the principal routes used to move cocaine produced in the Andean countries to international markets. Recent operations by Brazilian security forces have highlighted the scale of the threat. In May, the Amazon Integrated Task Force to Combat Organized Crime (FICCO) seized approximately 2.5 metric tons of drugs, along with rifles and ammunition, from a vessel intercepted on the Solimões River near Coari. Earlier, in February, another operation near Manacapuru resulted in the seizure of more than 4 metric tons of narcotics, 10 high-caliber firearms, and thousands of rounds of ammunition following a confrontation with traffickers using high-speed boats on the same river. ### Strengthening Capabilities through Multinational Exercises In response to the growing threat, armed forces across the region have strengthened their capabilities through multinational exercises, the development of common operating procedures, and the integration of advanced surveillance technologies. The Brazilian Navy stated that multinational riverine exercises strengthen interoperability and situational awareness across waterways that are increasingly exploited by transnational criminal organizations and illicit networks. One example of how countries are strengthening these capabilities is ACRUX XII, conducted near Corumbá in Brazil's Pantanal region in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The exercise brought together more than 700 personnel from the navies of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia along the Paraguay River, one of the principal arteries of the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway. ### Interoperability, Intelligence, and a Regional Response to Transnational Threats ACRUX is part of a broader framework of regional naval cooperation. Among the most prominent initiatives is Operation NINFA, conducted jointly with the Paraguayan Navy along the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway to establish common procedures for patrols, river traffic control, and countering criminal activities that exploit porous borders. Another initiative is BRACOLPER, which annually brings together Brazil, Colombia, and Peru in the Amazon region. These exercises represent far more than routine training. They are an investment in operational readiness against the evolving threat posed by organized crime by enhancing surveillance of strategic waterways, accelerating information sharing, and developing common procedures that enable participating forces to respond more rapidly and in a coordinated manner to increasingly mobile and sophisticated criminal networks. In a continent where many of the principal drug trafficking routes follow rivers that cross multiple national borders, naval cooperation and interoperability have become essential tools for strengthening regional security, protecting legitimate commerce, and improving the collective capacity to counter transnational threats.