Brazil police say they foiled a terrorist plot and arrested two suspects

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Authorities in Brazil foiled terrorist plans Wednesday when they arrested two people in Sao Paulo state, the Federal Police said in a statement.

The two suspects were recruited and financed by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and planned to target buildings tied to the Jewish community, according to an official with information about the plans but who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The police statement did not give details about the suspects. It said police also executed 11 search warrants in Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and the Federal District that were aimed at obtaining proof of possible recruitment of Brazilians for carrying out extremist acts in the country, adding that it was targeting both recruits and recruiters.

Local paper O Globo reported that police arrested one of the two suspects when they returned to the international airport in Sao Paulo, with information in hand to carry out the attack. There are two additional targets for arrest in Lebanon, the paper reported, without saying how it obtained that information.

The Brazilian Israelite Confederation celebrated the police operation on X, formerly Twitter.

“We congratulate the Federal Police, the public prosecutor’s office and the justice ministry for their preventive action,” said the group, known by its acronym Conib.

“The tragic conflicts in the Middle East cannot be imported into our country, where different communities live peacefully, harmoniously and without fear of terrorism,” the group said.

Brazil has one of the world’s largest Lebanese populations; most estimates put their total well above that of Lebanon itself.