Brazil, US Team Up to Tackle Cross-Border Organized Crime Gangs

Finance Minister Dario Durigan announced Friday that Brazil and the US have launched a joint-initiative to combat transnational organized crime gangs that have ramped up smuggling of weapons and illegal drugs across Latin America.

The move is part of a bilateral collaboration between Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service and U.S Customs and Border Protection, and has been dubbed, Project MIT — short for Mutual Interdiction Team — which seeks to integrate intelligence and operations to intercept illegal shipments of arms and drugs.

A key element of the project, a program called DESARMA, was launched Friday by Brazil’s tax agency and will ...