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Police invade Rio slum in bid to topple its criminal rulers
Source: Agencies |
November 14, 2011, Monday
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ELITE police units backed by armored military vehicles and helicopters marched into Rio de Janeiro's largest slum before dawn yesterday, the most ambitious operation yet to bring security to the Brazilian seaside city long known for its violence.
Within hours, officials said the Rocinha slum had been taken over without a shot being fired. The action in Rocinha was part of a campaign to drive out armed drug gangs that have ruled the community for decades.
Authorities pledged to continue the crackdown and stabilize Rio's security before it hosts the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Officials are counting on those events to signal Brazil's arrival as a global economic, political and cultural power.
Hours into the operation, not a shot had been heard in Rocinha. Special police units worked their way up the steep, winding roads as helicopters patrolled above.
One resident applauded the move, saying: "Tell the world we are not all drug traffickers. We are working people and now they are coming to liberate us."
However, Marisa Costa da Silva, 54, who runs a confectionery shop said: "We have heard they have been abusive to slum residents in other places they have taken. I have no idea what to expect."
Police also went into nearby Vidigal slum, but the armored personnel carriers there were having trouble climbing the steep roads that drug gangs had apparently covered in oil.
The Rocinha slum is home to about 100,000 people living in flimsy shacks that sprawl over a mountainside separating some of Rio's richest neighborhoods. The location has made it one of the most lucrative and largest drug distribution points in the city.
Paulo Storani, a security consultant and former captain in the elite police unit leading the invasion said: "Rocinha is one of the most strategically important points for police to control in Rio de Janeiro.
The pacification of Rocinha means authorities have closed a security loop around the areas that will host most of the Olympic and World Cup activities."
Some estimates say the Friends of Friends gang that has controlled Rocinha and Vidigal makes more than US$50 million in drug sales annually. Much of the sales are to tourists and to middle and upper-class Brazilians in the posh beach neighborhoods of Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana.
"This action is a huge blow to the structure of drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro and against the second-largest drug faction," Storani said. "Beyond that, it is essential to have security in this area simply because of the huge number of people who circulate there."
Law enforcement agents will remain in Rocinha for an undetermined period of time, said Alberto Pinheiro Neto, head of operations for the military police.
Within hours, officials said the Rocinha slum had been taken over without a shot being fired. The action in Rocinha was part of a campaign to drive out armed drug gangs that have ruled the community for decades.
Authorities pledged to continue the crackdown and stabilize Rio's security before it hosts the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Officials are counting on those events to signal Brazil's arrival as a global economic, political and cultural power.
Hours into the operation, not a shot had been heard in Rocinha. Special police units worked their way up the steep, winding roads as helicopters patrolled above.
One resident applauded the move, saying: "Tell the world we are not all drug traffickers. We are working people and now they are coming to liberate us."
However, Marisa Costa da Silva, 54, who runs a confectionery shop said: "We have heard they have been abusive to slum residents in other places they have taken. I have no idea what to expect."
Police also went into nearby Vidigal slum, but the armored personnel carriers there were having trouble climbing the steep roads that drug gangs had apparently covered in oil.
The Rocinha slum is home to about 100,000 people living in flimsy shacks that sprawl over a mountainside separating some of Rio's richest neighborhoods. The location has made it one of the most lucrative and largest drug distribution points in the city.
Paulo Storani, a security consultant and former captain in the elite police unit leading the invasion said: "Rocinha is one of the most strategically important points for police to control in Rio de Janeiro.
The pacification of Rocinha means authorities have closed a security loop around the areas that will host most of the Olympic and World Cup activities."
Some estimates say the Friends of Friends gang that has controlled Rocinha and Vidigal makes more than US$50 million in drug sales annually. Much of the sales are to tourists and to middle and upper-class Brazilians in the posh beach neighborhoods of Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana.
"This action is a huge blow to the structure of drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro and against the second-largest drug faction," Storani said. "Beyond that, it is essential to have security in this area simply because of the huge number of people who circulate there."
Law enforcement agents will remain in Rocinha for an undetermined period of time, said Alberto Pinheiro Neto, head of operations for the military police.
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