Police mount major operation in Rio favelas

Hundreds of heavily armed Brazilian police officers fanned out through three favelas in Rio de Janeiro in a show of force Monday against drug gangs dominating the crowded, low-income communities.

The Rio state government announced in a statement that 1,000 officers “began today a major operation against organized crime in the Complexo da Mare, Vila Cruzeiro, and Cidade de Deus.”

The three neighborhoods in the north and west of Rio de Janeiro are considered strongholds of the Comando Vermelho drug trafficking cartel, the most powerful in the Rio region.

“We want to attack this criminal group which is trying to extend its territory and to stir up conflicts with other criminal organizations,” the head of the civil police for Rio de Janeiro state, Renato Torres, told reporters.

The latest push by law enforcement authorities follows a series of high-profile violence in the city, a major tourist destination and Brazilian cultural center.

Three doctors were killed last Thursday while in a beach bar in the upscale Barra da Tijuca neighborhood. Police said the doctors may have been accidental victims in a conflict between gangs and paramilitary militias operating in the area.

Underlining the challenge facing police, Globo TV recently showed footage of drug traffickers armed with rifles and training in military tactics in the Complexo da Mare a sprawling agglomeration of favelas.