Brazilian flights to Europe are greeted by police at gate... why?
 

Reading the question about Mexican crew humiliation made me think about this issue:

Flights from Brazil to Europe (Heathrow and Frankfurt, not Lisbon) are met by at least 5 heavily armed police, right there at the gate. They are looking over each
and every arriving passenger and are asking most of them for passports. Right there at the arrival gate, long before immigration.

To me the passengers on these flights all look perfectly normal, exactly the same as on any other flight in the world. Average and tired.

No armed police greet the passengers upon arrival from Brazil to the USA, a country which normally is more security conscious/ paranoid.

Does anyone know what they are looking for at Heathrow and Frankfurt?

October 2017 at Heathrow, May 2018 at Frankfurt

Visa controls me thinks.
Happens to other flights as well like from Havana in Frankfurt.
Not specific to any country.

Possible drugs handed over airside in Brazil and to be handed over before Customs in the UK?

It's a regular occurrence in AMS for flights from NBO.

It's really nothing unusual. I have come off flights in the UK, Germany, Netherlands and the USA to be met by immigration officials and sometimes sniffer dogs. The last time I was approached by an immigration official in the UK, it was at Birmingham having come off a flight from Dublin!!! They have a job to do. It doesn't bother me. They will have good reason, probably based on intelligence received.

Flights arriving from S.A. are drug traffic routes - due to disgracefully corrupted regime. Extra vigilance on the receiving part, is just to be considered routine - nothing racial about it. Heavily armed is obviously due to the "value" of the "items" and the fact that you're dealing with scruples cartels - the officers at duty should be well prepared for that! Good on them for doing this - I appreciate it. And just think about it before you get offended - not much drug going in the opposite direction. Immigration policies are reciprocal. Sleep safely. Cheers.

I travel Dubai-Amsterdam fairly often, and it used to be a fairly frequent thing having police officers at the jetway checking each passenger. I don't think I've seen it since AMS adopted arrival scecurity screening for transit passengers a few years ago.

I remember being met by dogs when arriving in Frankfurt from Caracas about ten years ago. I I just assumed it was drug-related.

I also saw the funniest/most disgusting thing in Venezuela customs. One fine customs official started patting down this african male before boarding the aircraft, and proceeded to sniff, thoroughly, in his shoes....

This is SOP in Frankfurt since many years. They are randomly profiling and pre-filtering passengers and this is NOT limited to flights from South America. Also happens on flights coming from Schengen countries (normally no passport control required) e.g. Greece. If there are doubts about the legal status of a traveller, they get taken in to the police station at the airport for further processing. So what?

Happened to me more than once on arrival at Paris CDG, from different points of origin.
I was pleasantly reassured by it, to be honest.

I know this theory might not be very PC....

I might be linked with the looks and dress of the ladys on board why some get more attention than others.

What we doing now?
Don't know the Rio flight is due in 10 mins....
I will have a bit of that.....
Or the Glasgow fight is also due.....
Sod that it will put me off my lunch....

Brazil flights from MIA are checked by US immigration. At least the flights I have seen operated by AA.

I am happy to hear from many of you that the Brazil flights don't seem to be singled
out, but that this kind of Welcome is out there for many others also.

Of course, then there is the really only correct answer to my question, from tescoapp, thank you!

It is not unusual for arrivals in Toronto to be met by Canada Border Service officers for a passport check. If they are able to catch undocumented offenders who have have 'lost' their passport enroute before they reach 'Canadian soil' at the top of the jetway, I believe they can send offenders back on the return flight .

Otherwise, it involves many months of expensive incarceration, lawyers, court costs and a heavy drain on Canada's welcome.

It's hard drugs mainly. Rio to Europe or the Gulf is a regular route for "mules." Transit stops like Dubai/Frankfurt are first in line