Rio de Janeiro, April 12, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - Beginning today, and for an indefinite period, around a thousand military and civil police will act on a daily basis to combat drug trafficking in the slums of Rocinha and Morro do Vidigal, in Rio de Janeiro, according to information provided by the Secretariat of Public Safety of the state of Rio.

The objective of the police is to arrest the drug dealers who have been threatening and murdering the population. Since the pre-dawn hours of Friday (9), when bandits from the Morro do Vidigal set up a false police barricade on Niemeyer Avenue, the police have had various face-offs with drug traffickers. Eight people have been killed so far.

The brazenness of the bandits provoked a reaction of the part of the state government, which decided immediately to surround the slums of Rocinha, Vidigal, Chácara do Céu (Heavenly Farm), and Parque da Cidade (City Park) with 3-meter high walls, to keep these communities from expanding.

Translator: David Silberstein