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In Rio de Janeiro, 63 police officers and 11 drug traffickers were arrested for their involvement in bribery, extortion, torture, and kidnapping. The probe known as “Operation Purification” was headed by Brazil’s Federal Police in cooperation with Rio’s police force and Rio’s Intelligence and Security Secretariat, it was initiated in Sep 2011 and is considered the largest operation done in the state of Rio. The officers involved were caught as they were selling drugs and weapons to drug traffickers. Through wiretapping, federal authorities learned that the officers involved were moving half a ton of marijuana to Rio’s favelas (slums) and taking bribes of US$250,000 from drug traffickers. They were also in the process of selling assault rifles to drug dealers at US$21,000 each. The arrests happened in Duque de Caxias, one of the crime-ridden suburbs of Rio, as a result of the arrests; officials fired the battalion commander in charge of overseeing the officers caught in the scandal.
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Page 1 of 4 Unclassified/For Official Use Only
OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE (OSINT)
Briefing
December 7, 2012
Open Source Report
Unclassified/For Official Use Only
Latin America: Brazil
Police officers arrested in Rio in corruption
case.
By Gustavo Nascimento
Contingent Security Services, Ltd. Open Source Intelligence Analyst
South American Desk.
For InterPort Police under the supervision of
Joel Vargas,
Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Operations
Cell: 847-875-4990 (USA)
www.interportpolice.org
Page 2 of 4 Unclassified/For Official Use Only
Police officers arrested in Rio in corruption
case.
In Rio de Janeiro, 63 police officers and 11 drug traffickers were
arrested for their involvement in bribery, extortion, torture, and
kidnapping. The probe known as “Operation Purification” was headed by
Brazil’s Federal Police in cooperation with Rio’s police force and Rio’s
Intelligence and Security Secretariat, it was initiated in Sep 2011 and is
considered the largest operation done in the state of Rio. The officers
involved were caught as they were selling drugs and weapons to drug
traffickers. Through wiretapping, federal authorities learned that the
officers involved were moving half a ton of marijuana to Rio’s favelas
(slums) and taking bribes of US$250,000 from drug traffickers. They were
also in the process of selling assault rifles to drug dealers at US$21,000
each. The arrests happened in Duque de Caxias, one of the crime-ridden
suburbs of Rio, as a result of the arrests; officials fired the battalion
commander in charge of overseeing the officers caught in the scandal.
Location Facts: - Duque de Caxias, a city in southeast Brazil in Rio de
Janeiro, bordered by Rio de Janeiro City to the south.
www.interportpolice.org
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- Second richest city in the state of Rio de Janeiro, its main
industries are petrochemicals, metals, plastics, textile and clothing
- Population est. 842,890 in 2010
- There are 3 police forces in Brazil. The uniformed military police
(Polícia Militar) is responsible for preventive policing and
maintaining public order. Their duty is to patrol the streets to
prevent and inhibit criminal actions and arrest those who have
committed crimes. The Civil Police(Polícia Civil) investigates crimes
within the state, such as homicides, robberies, and kidnappings. The
Federal Police (Polícia Federal) is responsible for crimes on a
national scale such as smuggling, drugs and weapons trafficking in
addition to interstate and international criminal activities.
Analysis
Police corruption in Rio has always been a problem that adds to the issues
of drugs and small arms trafficking. Because of low salaries, police in
Rio often turn to criminal activities. Sources indicate that many in the
police force in Rio are involved in militia groups and death squads, an
ongoing problem particularly for the state’s military police units in
charge of patrolling the favelas. Rio’s government officials are
struggling to clean up the city in preparation for the World Cup 2014 and
the Summer Olympics in 2016. Last year, a Rio judge who was appointed to
investigate police corruption and these militias in the city, was
assassinated by hooded gunmen, further investigations revealed that the
judge’s name was in a list of 12 other officials who were “marked for
death.”
Rio’s notorious police force needs an overhaul as extensive as the one it
has promised to give its gang-controlled slums.
“These relationships between police, drug trafficking and organized crime
have become a hallmark of these last 30 years in Rio,” said Jorge Barbosa,
who works for Observatório de Favelas, an aid organization that operates
in the city’s slums. Tackling police corruption, he said, “is extremely
important, as important as the fight against drug trafficking.”
www.interportpolice.org
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According to Human Rights Watch report, police in Rio kill one person for
every 23 they arrest.
Last year an operation known as “Operation Guillotine” carried out by the
Federal Police in Rio de Janeiro, issued 32 warrants for the arrest of
civil and military police officers for their alleged involvement in
narcotics and weapons trafficking, illegal gambling operations and
neighborhood mafias, criminal groups formed by police officers,
firefighters and prison guards that dominate certain favelas(slums) and
poor neighborhoods.
R7 Notícias
O Globo do Rio de Janeiro
END OF REPORT
