Wednesday, 18 Apr, 2007 Current Events

RIO DE JANEIRO - 19 people fell dead in Rio de Janeiro as a result of the drug wars taking place in the Brazilian city. Two rival groups are fighting for controlling the drug supply to one of the poorest districts (called 'favela') of the city.

Two shootings shoot-outs took place in different regions of the biggest Brazilian city, where 19 people found their death. In one of the cases two rival groups initiated a shooting in one of the central regions of the city. The gang members tried to find cover on a cemetery, where many funeral processions were taking place at that very moment.

Local television broadcasted video clips, where one could see how people were trying to hide from the shooting. A man was seriously injured, while being in one of the funeral buses.

The result of this shoot-out was 13 dead bodies collected by the police. The bodies were officially recognized as drug dealers. Many fire arms and grenades were found on site.

The other incident took place on the other end of the city, where the police was involved in a shoot-out with drug-dealers. They killed 6 gang members and collected about 3,000 small foliage containers with cocaine. The police has also reported to have arrested some of the gang members, involved in the shooting.

The Brazilian Government is currently revising the request of the Rio governor about dispatching military troops in the city to help the police fight the drug wars.

A few months ago, after one of the shoot-outs, a special force team from the Federal Police was sent to the region. By the end of this year there will be additional forces directed into the city, as the city will host the Panamerican games.

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