The arrest took place on Monday afternoon (27). The duo, who lived in Spain, were responsible for disseminating jihadist propaganda and manuals for mass murders on the Internet.
The action involved the Spanish Civil Guard, the Brazilian Federal Police, the FBI and the European Union Agency for Police Cooperation (Europol).
The two brothers were arrested in Estepona, Málaga, Spain. Brazilians are between 35 and 40 years old and go to a gym every day. They arrived in Estepona at the beginning of the year and, since then, one of them has worked in construction and the other in the swimming pool sector, reports the newspaper El País.
The Spanish Civil Guard announced that there is a connection between the two Brazilians and other individuals also investigated and detained in European countries for links to Islamic terrorists.
Investigative sources highlighted to the Spanish newspaper that this is the first time that two people of Brazilian nationality have been detained in an operation against jihadist terrorism.
“It highlights the impact of jihadist propaganda around the world, even in areas such as Latin America, where the impact of attacks is much smaller”, these sources emphasize, highlighting that the profile of those detained in this type of investigation “is very varied” and There is no standard due to age, socioeconomic status or education.
According to researchers, Brazilians were in the process of radicalization on the Internet and used instant messaging platforms to show support for Daesh, disseminating material about terrorist activities carried out in different locations and manuals for making explosives, according to the CNN Brasil channel.
It has not yet been decided whether the Brazilians will be held accountable for the crime in Spain or whether there will be a request for extradition, says the media. At the beginning of the month, the Federal Police arrested two people suspected of links to Hezbollah.
According to the PF, Brazilians were planning attacks against buildings belonging to the Jewish community in Brazil.
According to investigations by the US Department of Justice, every year the armed wing of the Lebanese group Hezbollah makes at least USD 1 billion in criminal activities around the world. And around a third of this income would come from Latin America, as reported.