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Police occupy Rio slum and start hunt for traffickers
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Police occupy Rio slum and start hunt for traffickers
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By Pedro Fonseca
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Police and troops occupied a Rio de Janeiro slum on Sunday and were conducting a house-to-house search for drug traffickers behind a crime wave in the beachside city last week that killed at least 46.
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A Brazilian Army armored vehicle rolls over a blockade during an operation at Alemao slum in Rio de Janeiro November 28, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Bruno Domingos
By Pedro Fonseca
RIO DE JANEIRO |
Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:59am EST
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Police and troops occupied a Rio de Janeiro slum on Sunday and were conducting a house-to-house search for drug traffickers behind a crime wave in the beachside city last week that killed at least 46.
The security forces have been in pursuit of the gangs entrenched in the city's slums after they burned cars and buses last week, and view it as part of a crack down on crime necessary as Rio prepares to host the 2016 Olympic Games.
Police seized weapons and large quantities of drugs as they swept through the deserted streets of the Alemao slum in search of traffickers. The gangs initially fired on police as they advanced before hiding as the armed forces fanned out.
"All houses will be inspected ... Residents know we came to liberate them and bring peace to this region," Rio's chief of the military police, Sergio Duarte, told TV Globo.
Among the traffickers being hunted in Alemao were some who had fled from the Vila Cruzeiro slum after police invaded last week and have occupied it since. At least 46 people, most of them suspected traffickers, were killed in gun battles to take control there.
The occupation of the two slums could mark a turning point in the years-old battle between the authorities and the city's drug lords.
Police regularly invade Rio's crime-infested favelas in search of traffickers but the large number of troops involved in these operations and their occupation of the zones was unusual.
Armored trucks and tanks moved into the Alemao hillside slum, or favela, around 0800 (1000 GMT) as helicopters hovered overhead and police and troops took up strategic positions.
TV images from Alemao on Sunday showed a number of arrested suspects being led toward police vehicles.
Duarte said the security forces would remain on their guard as they began the search of thousands of ramshackle brick homes, despite having occupied the favela without clashes.
"(The traffickers) preferred to flee from the combat but that doesn't mean they aren't preparing positions or preparing a trap for our personnel," he said in a live TV interview.
Large numbers of poor live in Rio's sprawling hillside favelas, making it harder for police to hunt down the gangs. Many innocent slum-dwellers have been killed over the years in the crossfire of gun battles between gangs and police.
The latest wave of violence has cast some doubts over whether the city is safe enough to host the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, even though sports authorities have said they trust the government's security measures.
(Writing by Peter Murphy; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
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