Rio drug gangs shoot down police chopper, 2 cops dead

[Ought Six]

Rio gangs shoot down police chopper, 2 cops dead


FLORA CHARNER
NewsChannel 8
10/17/09

RIO DE JANEIRO - Drug traffickers shot down a police helicopter and killed two officers in a burst of drug-based violence just two weeks after the city won the 2016 Olympic games. Three suspected drug traffickers were also killed. Bullets flying from the Morro dos Macacos ("Monkey Hill" in Portuguese) slum in northern Rio de Janeiro hit the police helicopter pilot in the leg as he hovered above a clash between rival drug factions, causing him to lose control and crash.

The pilot and another officer managed to flee with burns after the helicopter burst into flames on a football field, but two officers were unable to escape, said a police spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy.

Officials did not know whether the gangs targeted the helicopter or whether it was hit by stray bullets. But the dramatic helicopter downing comes only two weeks after Rio won the 2016 Olympic games despite security concerns that have dogged Brazil's second-largest city for decades.

The three presumed traffickers were found dead inside a vehicle in the same slum, and television broadcasts showed at least three buses set ablaze in other slums and motorists fleeing for cover as automatic weapons fire broke out in broad daylight amid the worst violence the city has seen in months.

Images broadcast by Globo TV showed flames shooting from the helicopter wreckage, with little more than charred pieces and an intact tail remaining after the fire was doused. The pilot and the officer who managed to get away were hospitalized and were expected to survive, officials said.

Rio police frequently use helicopters to take on gangs that dominate drug trafficking in the city's more than 1,000 slums, but were unable to say whether this was the first time one of their helicopters had been shot down by gang members who use illicit military-grade weapons for combat against their rivals and authorities.

The crash happened about five miles (eight kilometers) southwest of one of the zones where Rio's 2016 Olympic will be located. The city on Oct. 2 bested Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo for the games. Rio alone among the bid cities was highlighted for security concerns ahead of the International Olympic Committee vote.

The downing of the helicopter followed intense firefights amid rival gangs in the slum as one tried to seize a rival's territory, authorities said.

Police moved into the area before dawn, though gunfire continued throughout the day, keeping terrorized residents inside their homes as bullets slammed into apartment buildings.

Despite increased policing efforts, Rio remains one of the world's most dangerous cities. The violence generally is contained within slum areas, though it sometimes spills into posh beach neighborhoods and periodically shuts down the highway that links the international airport to tourist destinations.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and other officials have downplayed the threat of violence for the Olympics, saying Rio has repeatedly demonstrated it can pull off big events without risk to players and spectators.

Rio held the Pan-American Games in 2007 without major incidents, deploying more than 15,000 specially trained officers on the streets to keep the peace.
_____

Associated Press Writer Marco Sibaja contributed from Brasilia, Brazil.

[BirdGuano]

Gives the 400 meter run a whole new meaning.

[Ought Six]

Death toll rises in Rio violence


Gang warfare has left 33 dead since Saturday
in the city chosen to host the 2016 Olympics.

By Marcelo Soares and Chris Kraul
The Los Angeles Times
October 22, 2009

Reporting from Bogota, Colombia, and Sao Paulo, Brazil -- Rio de Janeiro police on Wednesday announced seven more deaths and 17 arrests as drug-fueled violence continued to sweep over parts of the city that this month was named to host the 2016 Olympics.

The death toll has risen to 33 since Saturday, when rival gangs launched a turf war for control of drug trafficking in several favelas, or shantytowns, interspersed among Rio's luxury hotels and residential areas.

Gangs are suspected of using high-caliber weapons to shoot down a helicopter on Saturday near the Morro dos Macacos slum, which remains the scene of fighting between rival gangs and police trying to subdue them. Three of six police officers on board were killed in the crash.

Most of the dead this week were suspected gang members, but the victims also included several bystanders. On Wednesday, 18-year-old student Jose Carlos Guimaraes was seriously wounded in the abdomen by a stray bullet during a confrontation between police and criminals at the Vila Cruzeiro favela.

Hundreds of Rio de Janeiro state police have been deployed in a bid to control the violence. Gov. Sergio Cabral has requested additional forces from the federal government.

The pressure is on local authorities to quell the violence as Rio begins its $14-billion preparations to host the Olympics in 2016, the first time the Games will be held in South America. Mayor Eduardo Paes is on a foreign trip to generate investment in the effort.

In awarding the Games to Rio instead of Chicago, Tokyo or Madrid, the International Olympic Committee made a leap of faith that Rio authorities would bring the city's sometimes horrendous crime under control.

Many of the 2014 World Cup soccer matches will also be held in Rio.

The turf war started Saturday when the Red Commandos gang mounted a predawn invasion of Morro dos Macacos, controlled by the Friends of Friends gang.

Police recently increased their presence in five favelas, forcing gangs to fight over other areas.

On Wednesday, police said that among the 17 arrested was Rodrigo Mello, a leader of the Red Commandos. Mello is said to have ordered the invasion of Morro dos Macacos, the biggest favela not under his gang's control.

Ten buses have been burned since Saturday, a form of gang retaliation, and some bus lines have suspended service to the favelas.

Several Brazilian newspapers on Wednesday published a photo of the corpse of a suspected gang member found in a shopping cart.

In an interview with Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper, Ricardo Teixeira, head of the Brazilian Soccer Confederation and co-organizer of the 2014 World Cup, tried to minimize the negative impact of the violence.

"There was a natural reaction, the same way as when we turn the TV on and see the attacks of crazy kids in the United States killing everyone and shooting everyone," he said, referring to cases of school violence.

But Antonio Biscaia, who ran for Rio state governor in 2006 against Cabral, said the city lives in a kind of civil war, alleging that slayings are rising in Rio while declining in the rest of Brazil.

"Some administrations don't want to face the problem because their popularity can get soiled in these areas, with voters from poor communities," Biscaia said in a magazine interview.
_____

Soares and Kraul are special correspondents.