By Ricardo BritoBRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil is preparing to launch a center for international police cooperation to combat environmental crimes and drug trafficking in the Amazon rainforest by the end of 2023, Federal Police officials told Reuters. The center, agreed upon at the summit of Amazon nations in August, will bring together police authorities from the eight countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO). Uniting the Amazon countries against criminal activity in the world's largest rainforest is key to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's effort to restore Brazil's environmental credentials after four years of soaring deforestation under predecessor Jair Bolsonaro. "We expect to see a significant reduction in environmental crimes in the area and also action involving the entire Amazon region and not just a few isolated countries," Urquiza said. "There's no point in operating only in Brazil," he said, adding that criminals in the region move around the countries of the rainforest to evade authorities.

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Persons: Ricardo Brito, Luiz Inacio Lula da, Jair Bolsonaro, Valdecy Urquiza, Urquiza, Humberto Freire, Ameripol, Freire, Peter Frontini, Timothy Gardner Organizations: Ricardo Brito BRASILIA, Reuters, Federal Police, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, Federal Police's, Police, Interpol Locations: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela