Luciana Vasconcelos
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Foz do Iguaçu (PR) - The Maritime Police Nucleus (Nepom) of the Federal Police, located on the shores of the reservoir of the Itaipu Binational dam, was created to reinforce security in Foz do Iguaçu. The headquarters has over 400 square meters of floor space. Accompanied by the director-general of the Federal Police (PF), Paulo Lacerda, and the representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Giovanni Quaglia, diplomats from Austria, Romania, Germany, Argentina, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom visited the installations on Friday (29).

The Nepom will conduct visible patrols in Brazilian waters and territories along navegable stretches of the Paraná River below the Itaipu hydroelectric plant, from the dam to the International Friendship Bridge to the Mark of the Three Frontiers. The objective is to implement activities to stop contraband, the trafficking of drugs and chemical precursors, environmental crimes, and other violations. The institution has three motorboats and police intelligence equipment, such as, for example, a sophisticated device that will prevent possible perpetrators from exchanging information.

The area was constructed thanks to a partnership established in September, 2003, between the UNODC project, the Federal Police, and the Itaipu Binational Enterprise. Itaipu Binational donated US$ 986 million, while the international community gave US$ 1 million.

According to the UNODC, besides the unit in Foz do Iguaçu, nuclei will be implanted in nine other Brazilian cities.

Translation: David Silberstein