Minister pledges rigor in fight against organized crime

13/01/2003 - 8h39

Brasília, January 13, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Ministry of Justice will act rigorously and firmly in the fight against organized crime and will work to reform the Judiciary. These are the two big challenges faced by Minister Thomaz Bastos, who gave an interview today to Radiobrás.

"As long as we don't have a judicial system that is rapid, efficient, and able to respond to crime, a system that has a dissuasive presence, we shall be unable to combat organized crime efficiently," he affirmed.

The Minister also promised "zero tolerance" with respect to police corruption.

Bastos also remarked that the Ministry is studying the possibility of coordination between the Federal Police and the Army to increase frontier surveillance, especially in the war against drug traffic. (DAS)