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LATIN AMERICA |
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Brazil Drug
Battle Death Toll Rises to 25
RIO DE JANEIRO – The finding of another body
Tuesday raised to 25 the number of deaths in
last weekend’s battles in Rio slums pitting
rival drug-dealing gangs against each other
and police, Brazilian authorities said.
Among the victims are three sharpshooters
who were in a police helicopter that was
shot down Saturday by the criminals, three
youths who were murdered by gunmen when they
returned from a party and 19 suspected drug
traffickers, a police spokesman told Efe.
The bodies of eight of the victims were
found in wooded areas near the “favelas”
(shantytowns) where the clashes occurred.
“They are left over from the combat on
Saturday,” said a spokesman for the Rio de
Janeiro state police commenting on the
increase in the number of known victims.
The latest body was found Tuesday in a
shopping cart that had been abandoned on a
street leading into the Morro dos Macacos
favela, the neighborhood where the violence
was concentrated.
At least 2,000 police have been taking part
since Saturday in ongoing operations to hunt
down in different favelas the members of the
gangs involved in the clashes and the
perpetrators of the attack on the
helicopter.
The helicopter was providing support for
police officers conducting an operation
against the Morro de Sao Joao gang, which
had launched an attack on rivals in
neighboring Morro dos Macacos.
The shootouts were sparked by a dispute
between rival gangs over the drug corners in
the Morro dos Macacos favela, which is
controlled by the Amigos dos Amigos (Friends
of Friends) criminal organization.
Macacos was attacked by gunmen from Morro de
Sao Joao, where the drug trade is controlled
by the Comando Vermelho (Red Command), who
were reinforced by allies who run the drug
sales in the Jacarezinho and Complexo do
Alemao favelas.
Besides the 25 deaths, the clashes left at
least seven people wounded, five of them
police, while eight buses were burned by the
drug traffickers.
Rio de Janeiro is plagued by constant
clashes involving organized crime groups,
the security forces and paramilitaries over
control of the favelas that are home to
about a third of the city’s 6 million
people.
The incidents that occurred over the weekend
caused panic among residents in a broad
section of Rio de Janeiro, with the images
beamed around the world two weeks after the
city was selected to host the 2016 Summer
Olympics.
The press on Sunday raised questions about
whether police would be able to deal with
criminal groups and regain control of Rio’s
nearly 1,000 favelas before the Olympics.
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, however,
told Efe Monday that officials never hid the
city’s crime problem and Brazil always comes
through in organizing big events.
“Since we started the campaign (for the 2016
Olympics), we never hid the security
problems we had. Things don’t change from
day to night, but things are better in Rio,”
Paes said in London, where he is attending
the Global Sports Industry Congress.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva promised 100 million reais ($58.8
million) to the Rio de Janeiro state police
to replace the lost helicopter and upgrade
their equipment. EFE |
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