Police, soldiers take over Rio slum

RIO DE JANEIRO: Hundreds of Brazilian police and soldiers backed by helicopters and armored vehicles swept in Sunday to take over a crime-ridden Rio slum as part of a pacification plan ahead of the football World Cup in 2014.

More than 100 marines, 160 elite police officers and 600 ordinary officers took part in the operation in the hillside Mangueira neighborhood, which went off without a shot being fired, a police spokesman said.

Mangueira is located near Rio's famed Maracana football stadium, and is home to one of the city's oldest samba schools.

The pre-announced operation began just after dawn with 14 armored personnel carriers thundering up the slum's steep roads and helicopters clattering overhead, as security forces on foot followed with arms at the ready.

An hour and a half later, two of the vehicles reached the highest point of the slum and officers hoisted the Brazilian flag atop a water tank.

The forces met no resistance. Drug gangs which had been controlling the district had fled well in advance.

"We were woken at six in the morning by the helicopters. Everything was already calm before that. It would have been better if they spent the money on improving the hospitals," said one resident, a kitchen employee and mother of five who gave her first name as Bete.

Her seven-year-old nephew Donatan said he was afraid. "When I heard the noise, my legs started shaking. The house was shaking too. I thought the police were going to start shooting," he said.

Most residents refused to comment for fear of reprisals in case the drug gangs returned. The few who did refused to give their last name. (AFP)