Business Travel Risk Management Brazil
The client is a US-based Fortune 500 company in the online retail business. As part of the expansion plan, several executives traveled worldwide to coordinate various projects. The client requested ETS Risk Management’s support for secure transportation, executive protection, and personal security.
Secure Transportation Sao Paulo
The company tasked two executives to travel to Sao Paulo to coordinate opening a distribution center in Brazil. The company requested ETS to explore alternative transportation means to reduce risks and timing to facilitate the executives’ schedule. The client requested a thorough risk assessment of the new potential partner, focusing on any potential affiliation with local organized crime, and in-depth due diligence.
Brazil Risk Assessment
ETS conducted a risk assessment of the client and analyzed the proposed venues for the meeting. All the routes connecting the three locations were also surveyed. We proposed to transfer the executives from the airport to the hotel and the meeting venue via helicopter due to traffic congestion that would have caused significant uncertainty and likely disruption of the schedule. The risk assessment on the potential partner did not reveal any connection (past or present) to organized crime and no pending investigations or alleged involvement in any corruption or bribery case. We relayed our findings to the client who accepted our strategy for this project.
Sao Paulo Helicopter and Secure Transportation
ETS, through a local, vetted, and reliable partner selected the helicopter and two former Brazilian Airforce pilots to conduct the transfers from and to the airport and the meeting’s venue. Sao Paulo, especially for foreign travelers, is considered high-risk. Armed robberies, assaults, and carjacking occur daily anywhere in the city. The unpredictability of the perpetrators and the tendency to use violence pose a serious threat to any traveler unfamiliar with the environment. For the protection of the executives on the ground, ETS assigned two non-armored, low-profile vehicles including security drivers and two-armed, close protection officers.
We coordinated the arrival and transferred the executives from the airport to the heliport. The second team was standing by at the heliport to transport them to the hotel. The executives safely arrived at the hotel and retreated for the day. The following two days all movements were conducted by the primary team while the second team acted in a surveillance detection capacity without reporting any suspicious activity around the executives or the venues. On meeting day, we transferred the executives to the heliport while the second team was surveilling the arrival area. After the meeting, the flight back to the hotel was on time and no further incidents were reported.
ETS Brazil
In the past eight years, has provided security services for various clients conducting business in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, most of the tourist hot spots, and the Amazon rainforest. The knowledge of the culture and the territory, the experience of our assets, and local security and law enforcement network, second to none, allowed our highly experienced operators to enable clients’ operations while protecting people, reputation, brand, and assets. In this case, utilizing helicopters to minimize risks on the road, paired with real-time information and emergency protocols in place, allowed ETS to avoid any incident, maintaining the clients safe at all times.
Upon completion of the task, we received feedback from the clients:
“ It was our first time in Sao Paulo and before departure, we did some research concerning crime and violence in the city. Our security detail’s demeanor, competence, and nice manners provided such peace of mind that was instrumental for the successful completion of our task and the acquisition of a new business partner. We believe that there is no other way to safely do business in Brazil and we are grateful for a very positive experience.”
