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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Brazil police claim victory in Rio |
| 2010-11-30 |
| [Al Jazeera] Police in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro have claimed victory in the Alemao shantytown after launching an operation aimed at pushing members of a narco gang out of the area. But about 600 gang members are believed to be remain in Alemao, a grouping of a dozen slums in the north of the city where tens of thousands of people live. "There is no doubt that Rio residents have reason to celebrate today," Rodrigo Oliveira, Rio police inspector, said. "The complex was seen as a fortress for narcos and in less than two hours we took control.'' Al Jizz's Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from Rio, said that the first phase of the operations was over, with security forces having penetrated deep into the slum. "Authorities are planning to put a Brazilian flag on top of the favela," our correspondent said. "This is our D-Day," Colonel Lima Castro, the military police front man, said in a reference to the historic allied invasion of Normandy during World War Two. Brazilian police seized 40 tons of marijuana in its crackdown on drug trafficking gangs in slums, in northern Rio de Janeiro, a state official told the AFP news agency on Sunday. "The military police alone seized 20 tons. The rest was done by the civil police force and other security forces that participated in the crackdown," said a front man for Rio de Janeiro state's security. Secretariat Reporters were shown several houses where huge quantities of marijuana, ready packaged for distribution, were stacked in rooms and abandoned by narcos fleeing security forces. Nelson Jobim, Brazil's defence minister, had authorised the deployment of 10 military armoured vehicles, two air force helicopters and 800 soldiers for the offensive, to reinforce the 17,500 police involved in the earlier stage of the crackdown. About 300 federal police were also dispatched to bolster local forces. Police had given suspected narcos in Alemao slum an ultimatum to turn themselves in after more than 1,000 police and army personnel surrounded the area. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Ever turn on a light and watch the cockroaches scramble? They'll be back. |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-11-30 12:53 |