Rio, 4/28/2006 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The United States State Department annual report on Strategies to Control International Drug Traffic highlights efforts by Brazil, pointing out that the country reached record levels of drug apprehensions in 2005. But the report goes on to call for improvements in border control, saying that there is "a minimum presence of police forces along Brazil's borders."

The head of Brazil's border operations at the Federal Police, Mauro Sposito, seconds the recommendation. "Our problems with lack of personnel are well known. We simply do not have enough people to do what we are supposed to do," he declared.

The US State Department report says that the 3,400 kilometer border with Bolivia has become the main gateway for drugs, especially cocaine, that are used domestically in Brazil. Sposito says that means the states of Acre, Rondonia and Mato Grosso have become part of the main drug route and require special attention.

Translation: Allen Bennett