This article analyze the creation and regulation of the Brazilian "Lei do Abate" that allow the shoot-down of civil aircraft suspected of involvement in drug trafficking. It investigated the relationship between the development of the Brazilian "Lei do Abate", the War on Drugs policy propagated by the U.S. government and the military strategic concerns about the security of the Amazon region. The research involved the study of the origins and transformations of the U.S. anti-drug policy since the 1960s and the War on Drugs model as part of the context of the creation of air bridge denial programs. We also examined the parliamentary debate to approve the bill proposed by the Executive Branch and the debates for their regulation. The research was carried out through the analysis of documents produced by the U.S. (open and confidential ones that were reclassified) and Brazil, through research in the annals of the Brazilian National Congress and through the study of Brazilian and international books and scientific articles. The programs that allows shoot-down of civil aircraft on flight was created under the excuse of combating trafficking, but are linked to specific military needs of Peru and Colombia. The Brazilian shoot-down program had been created to combat the illicit air transport linked to drug trafficking, but has close connections with the military projects for defending the sovereignty over the Brazilian Amazon.
national security; War on Drugs; Lei do Abate; drug traffic