Close-up shot: Police take back Rio gangland

Photo posted by Caio Amy on Flickr. 

Police launched a massive anti-drug raid in the Rio de Janeiro shantytown of Vila Cruzeiro on Thursday, wrapping up five days of violent clashes between police and drug dealers that left at least 25 dead. Our Observers on the ground followed the operation and sent us their accounts, photos and videos.

The favela [Brazilian word for slum] of Vila Cruzeiro has long been a stronghold for drug gangs and a symbol of their ability to rule vast areas of the city with impunity. Police arrested at least 192 people and went on searching homes and securing the perimeter well into Friday as part of their effort to permanently reclaim the area from the control of drug traffickers.

Up to 200 dealers, however,  managed to flee the zone by foot or on motorcycle, re-grouping in a nearby group of favelas called Complexo do Alemao.

Brazil is trying to ‘clean up’ drug and crime plagued Rio before the seaside city hosts the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympics. The BOPE, heavily armed police battalions specialised in urban warfare, have been charged with clearing out the drug traffickers, while the special Pacifying Police Units (UPP), created by Rio governor Sergio Cabral in 2007, aim to consolidate relations between favela-dwellers and police forces.

Video posted on Vimeo by Pedro Serra on November 25, 2010.

Post written with France 24 journalist Lorena Galliot.

Photos of the police takeover of Vila Cruzeiro

Photo posted on Flickr by Caio Amy.

More than 80 abandoned motorcycles were found duringthe search Friday morning, reminders of the gang's quick retreat the day before.

Photos posted on Flickr by Pedro Serra.

“There are accounts of traffickers shooting innocent people then blaming the police, and I’m sure it’s true”

Caio Amy is a Web developer photographer and blogger.  He specialises in photographing police units during their urban operations.

I followed the police units into the Vila Cruzeiro favela yesterday morning at 9am and followed them all day. This was a very big operation in relation to previous anti-drug raids: between 800 and 1000 policemen were deployed, some units were brought back from vacation especially for the operation.

 

In my experience photographing police operations, I have seen civilians being wounded, even killed. It’s very sad, but I think it’s inevitable in the context of a war – and what is going on in Rio’s favelas is a full-blown war against dangerous drug lords. The police are very careful, but casualties are inevitable. I have heard accounts of traffickers shooting innocent people then blaming the police, and I’m sure it’s true.

This escalation of police operations is part of an overall security policy to “pacify” the slums of Rio di Janeiro before the city hosts the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 summer Olympic games. Outgoing president Lula da Silva and his successor Dilma Roussef both support these operations, but the man really behind them is the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral.”

“I think there will be a succession of operations leading to a huge, final battle between drug lords and police”

Pedro Serra is a journalist and blogger in Rio de Janeiro. He covered the police raid yesterday and posted photos and videos on his personal blog.

Yesterday’s operation was one of the biggest police raids that has ever taken place in Rio. I had never seen so many policemen in my life. As I left Vila Cruzeiro, I crossed a column of about 30 police cars heading in the same direction. There were also several armoured tanks lent by the navy.

The pacification of Rio’s favelas is going faster than I imagined it would when Rio’s governor first created the special Pacifying Police Units. I think the government is going in the right direction – pushing drug dealers into a smaller and smaller corner until they have nowhere to go and are forced to either face the police or surrender. The footage of hundreds of dealers, gun in hand, fleeing Vila Cruzeiro yesterday was incredible: they looked like little cockroaches running away when the lights are turned on! I think this operation weakened the drug networks – Villa Cruzeiro was like a fortress for them, and now they have lost it.

However, the drug war is far from over: the traffickers who managed to escape have re-grouped in another favela called Complexo do Alemao. Police are reportedly planning another major operation to push them out of there as well. I think there will be a succession of operations leading to a final, battle between drug lords and police, which I believe will be huge. After that, I hope drug dealers won’t walk around with their guns in broad daylight, ruling and terrorising a whole neighbourhood. There will always be dealers, but they’ll do their business hidden from view.

What happens in a pacified favela can be witnessed in the neighbourhood of Santa Marta, where drug trafficking networks have been completely dismantled by police. The results are very positive – citizens are less ghettoised, they feel more like part of society. Even if initially there may be a void left in society by the disappearance of drug networks, if authorities fill it with access to infrastructure and public services (electricity, running water, television, transport), society as a whole will benefit from these operations.