AFP | 2023-11-14

RÍO DE JANEIRO -- Brazilian police Monday (November 13) said they had arrested a third suspect accused of involvement in planning "terrorist attacks" in the country, a plot Israel says was backed by Lebanese militant group Hizbullah.

The alleged plot came to light last week, when Brazil's federal police carried out a series of raids across several states and arrested two suspects in São Paulo in an "anti-terrorism" investigation.

"A third suspect under investigation was arrested Sunday in Rio de Janeiro," police said in a statement.

The arrest in Brazil of three people accused of planning "terrorist attacks" has put a spotlight on alleged South American operations by Lebanese militant group Hizbullah, which Israel says orchestrated the plot.

Backed by Iran, Hizbullah is an Islamist political party and militant organization with close ties to Hamas, the group locked in a conflict with Israel.

Here is what we know -- and do not -- about its presence in South America, which the United States has called a major security risk.

Lawless 'Tri-Border Area'

Scrutiny of Hizbullah's alleged operations in South America has focused on the "Tri-Border Area" among Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay -- all countries with large populations of Lebanese origin.

The region's hub is Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, a bustling hive of traders and traffickers hawking products from around the world, from pirated digital video discs (DVDs) to appliances to guns.

A free-trade zone, it has a reputation as a hotbed of dodgy dealings and crime.

Hizbullah financiers use the region as a fundraising base, according to Washington.

Organized crime

Hizbullah is accused of raising money by helping organized crime groups in the region launder money.

In 2014, Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported Lebanese traffickers linked to Hizbullah helped one of Brazil's biggest drug gangs, the PCC, buy arms and sell stolen explosives, citing leaked federal police documents.

Argentina bombing

In 2006, prosecutors in Argentina accused Hizbullah of carrying out the deadliest attack in the country's history: the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Prosecutors charged top Iranian officials with ordering it.

Iran denies involvement.

Arrests, 'terror' blacklists

The United States has blacklisted several South Americans for allegedly financing Hizbullah, including Lebanese-Paraguayan national Assad Barakat, a convicted money launderer.

In June, Argentina requested international arrest warrants for four Lebanese men accused of Hizbullah ties, three with dual nationality in Brazil and Paraguay.

Argentina and Paraguay have designated Hizbullah a "terrorist organization."