Brazil to Build Wall on Paraguay Border

Mar 13, 9:06 PM (ET)

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - Brazil will build a wall on a small portion of its border with Paraguay in an effort to combat contraband and smuggling, the government's official news agency said Tuesday.

The wall will be constructed on a mile-long section of the border near the "Friendship Bridge," one of the busiest crossing points between the two nations, the official Agencia Brasil news service said.

Construction of the 10-foot-tall steel and concrete wall, topped with barbed-wire, will begin this month and should be complete in July.

Authorities hope the wall will create an obstacle for smugglers who try to cross the border without passing through check points on the bridge.

Brazil's Federal Tax Bureau said in a statement that the wall will help to boost legitimate business transactions between the countries.

The region - packed with merchants selling electronics, cigarettes, whiskey and other goods - is known as South America's busiest contraband and smuggling center.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the so-called Triple Border area - Argentina also has a border there - came under scrutiny by U.S. authorities, who say the billions of dollars generated annually in the region are used to fuel arms trafficking, drug smuggling, counterfeiting, intellectual property-rights violations, and other crimes.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070314/D8NRKLQG1.html