Brazil wary of its southern states after raids target ‘neo-Nazis’

At the end of an unpaved forest road above the southern Brazilian town of São Pedro de Alcântara is a modest hilltop villa, built in the style of a German chalet. The ideal place, a group of alleged neo-Nazis believed, for their secret annual meeting.

The eight men had no inkling they were under surveillance until Santa Catarina state police force officers, armed with assault rifles and shotguns, stormed the building as they slept.

The suspects were all dragged outside, handcuffed and arrested. Police then searched the villa and found a trove of Nazi propaganda alongside clear evidence of the group’s links to the Hammerskins, a white supremacist group in the United States. A computer found at the site was reported to contain bomb-making instructions.