Brazilian police investigate potential terrorist cell

A special police forces officer stand guard outside the Olympic Park less than two weeks before the start of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 24, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

RIO DE JANEIRO -- The Brazilian police are investigating a potential terrorist cell made up of 15 members, who may have been planning terrorist acts during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in August.

The private Globo TV station broadcast a report on Monday, including news of a police investigation, in which one of its journalists had infiltrated this group, which was seeking to buy weapons in Paraguay in order to shoot people during the Games.

The report also said that the group saw the Games as an "opportunity" to "hit the enemy".

The investigations into this new group come on the heels of the dismantling of another terrorist group of 12 people, captured between July 21 and 24, which had allegedly sworn loyalty to the Islamic State and were also planning attacks during the Olympics.

After the July 14 terrorist attack in Nice, France, the Brazilian government has tightened security provisions for the Olympic Games, with stronger checks at airports and ports and over 87,000 soldiers, police and security forces on the streets and at key venues.