Contaminated water, Zika, several deaths and economic turmoil have already plagued the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, but the games may be safer than you think.
According to reports from NBC News, over 1,000 spies have been sent to provide extra security for the games in addition to several U.S. Special Operation Command soldiers who have been sent to work with Brazilian forces.
The report obtained by NBC revealed that an operation including 50 other countries is being utilized to vet all participating athletes and monitor suspected terrorist’s social media accounts.
The U.S. is resourcing all 17 of it’s intelligence agencies for the operation according to NBC and involves “human intelligence, spy satellites, electronic eavesdropping, and cyber and social media monitoring.”
The increased security comes in the wake of recent terror attacks at large public venues like the Olympics, including the truck driver attack in Nice, France during Bastille Day celebrations and the suicide bombers who attacked an airport terminal in Istanbul earlier this July.
But while no threats have been made towards the games so far, U.S. intelligence official told NBC News there are additional military units on standby in case of any terrorist activity.
The DC reached out to the Marine Corps for questions regarding the military sent and they did say they were aware of a Marine Security Guard Security Augmentation Unit (MSAU) being sent to the games.
“The additional Marines supporting the Olympics are Marine Security Guard (MSG) Security Augmentation Units (MSAUs). It is not uncommon for the MSAU Marines to augment MSG units and provide additional internal security at overseas U.S. diplomatic facilities,” said Marine Corps spokeswoman Danielle Phillips.