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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 000077 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA AND INL 
NSC FOR TOMASULO 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
USAID FOR LAC/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2018 
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV OEXC SNAR KCRM BR
SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP WITH SENIOR JUSTICE ON DRUG AND WEAPONS 
TRAFFICKING 
 
REF: 07 SAO PAULO 991 
 
Classified By: Consul General Thomas White; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (C/NF) Sao Paulo State Court of Appeals Criminal Division 
Justice, Jose Amado de Faria Souza, told Consul General (CG) 
that while his concerns expressed reftel regarding the 
possible transportation of heavy weapons across the 
Tri-Border Area (TBA) and from Colombia into Brazil were 
based on cases he reviewed 10-15 years ago, he believes that 
Brazil's law enforcement community and judiciary are not 
sufficiently focused on the possible connections between 
organized crime and terrorism today.  Justice Souza claimed 
that the federal government does not want to accept warnings 
from the Federal Police about such possible connections.  He 
offered to continue providing information regarding these 
issues to the Consulate.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C/NF) Consul General met with Sao Paulo State Court of 
Appeals Criminal Division Justice Jose Amado de Faria Souza 
on January 22, in part to follow up on his December 2007 
conversation with Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg West (reftel). 
 Justice Souza has just returned to the Criminal Division 
after a decade-long absence, and is interested in rekindling 
a relationship with the Consulate and with the U.S. law 
enforcement community.  Recalling his experience as an 
International Visitor (IV) in 1992, Souza asked us to help 
him find contact information for incumbents in the positions 
with whom he met during his IV trip, particularly in DOJ and 
State/INL (Note: Since his meeting with the CG, we have 
provided him with this information.  End Note.)  Souza said 
that in the late 1980s and early 1990s he occasionally shared 
information with ConGen Sao Paulo in cases where the 
Consulate was concerned that suspected criminals might be 
planning travel to the United States.  According to Justice 
Souza, the Consulate would pass the name of suspected 
individuals to him to check on whether or not the individual 
had any criminal history.  Justice Souza stated this also was 
useful for the courts in monitoring individuals who might be 
involved in transnational crime.  He described this as an 
"informal" arrangement, as there might be resistance from 
some political quarters to any formal understanding. 
 
¶3.  (C/NF) Questioned about his assertion to visiting 
Assistant U.S. Attorney West in December that heavy weapons 
had been transported across the Tri-Border Area (TBA) and 
from Colombia into Brazil, Justice Souza clarified that his 
assessment is based on cases he reviewed 10-15 years ago, 
before he transferred out of the Criminal Division in the 
1990s.  He related an environment during that period - 
without detailing specific cases - where cross-border drug 
traffickers, principally along the Colombian border, but also 
along the Bolivian border and the TBA, often were trading 
weapons as part of the drug trafficking system.  He indicated 
that weapons were being acquired by organized crime groups in 
Brazil, but also was concerned that such traffic could also 
be used by groups in areas like the TBA that had links to the 
Middle East and North Africa. 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) Justice Souza repeated concerns expressed to 
Assistant U.S. Attorney West that senior Brazilian law 
enforcement and justice officials are not sufficiently 
concerned about possible connections between organized crime 
and terrorism.  He cited a close Federal Police contact who 
has worked in the TBA, who claims that Brasilia -- presumably 
referring to political-level officialdom -- is deaf to 
Federal Police efforts to pass on information about such 
possible connections. 
 
SAO PAULO 00000077  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5.  (C/NF) Comment:  Justice Souza's clarifications on arms 
movements are somewhat reassuring, given the alarming nature 
of some of his comments reported in reftel.  He made clear 
that his December comments referred to events some 10-15 
years ago, and referred to drug traffickers, rather than 
terrorist groups.  Nonetheless, he is concerned that the 
drugs and arms connection could be extended to terrorist 
sympathizers, in an environment where GOB control of borders 
is weak, and where federal officials remain skeptical or 
disinterested in possible organized crime connections with 
Middle East-connected groups.  End Comment. 
 
¶6.  (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Brasilia Law 
Enforcement Working Group. 
WHITE