Brazil investigation uncovers Hezbollah recruitment network — Jerusalem Post
Brazil’s counterterrorism operation Trapiche, launched by the country’s Federal Police in November 2023 with support from Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, uncovered information about a suspected scheme to recruit operatives in Latin America. As The Jerusalem Post reports, Brazilian federal prosecutor Lucas Gualtieri assesses that Hezbollah is increasingly seeking out convicted individuals facing financial difficulties and resentment toward the judicial system.
Gualtieri, who specializes in organized crime and Hezbollah’s use of criminal networks, prepared an assessment for The Washington Institute. According to him, the group has eased its requirements for ideological loyalty: it allegedly recruits people without prior ties to Hezbollah or Lebanon, sends them to Lebanon for training, and then returns them to their countries of residence to identify potential Israeli and Jewish targets.
Data from Operation Trapiche
In intercepted audio recordings, according to the prosecutor, recruiters discussed finding people who had previously served sentences and had grievances against the courts. Gualtieri believes that using individuals without obvious personal or ideological ties to the group could allow Hezbollah to deny involvement in potential attacks.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
One of the individuals in the case was Lucas Passos Lima. Last month, Brazil’s Superior Court reinstated his terrorism conviction after a federal court concluded that his involvement in a network that selected Jews and Israelis as targets was motivated by financial gain. According to Gualtieri, Lima returned from Lebanon with more than $5,000 in untraceable cash.
Financial networks
According to Gualtieri, Brazilian tobacco shops may have helped finance airline tickets for recruited individuals. They were identified after an inspection of a shop at Belo Horizonte’s central market, where banned electronic cigarettes were sold. In October 2023, the case was transferred to counterterrorism police following an FBI warning about a criminal financial network that, according to the U.S. agency, financed Hezbollah.
In another case linked to Operation Colossus, prosecutors charged São Paulo crypto broker Dante Felipini with money laundering, violations of currency legislation, participation in a terrorist organization, and terrorism financing. According to the investigation, he created three cryptocurrency wallets for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah.
