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Shaking a baseball bat with the word 'dialogue' stamped across it, the drugs gangster menaces: "This time I'm just having some dialogue with you, ok? The next time I'll kill you."

It is the kind of gangland warning perhaps not uncommon in the dangerous, gang-infested slums of Rio de Janeiro.

But this time the trembling victim's only 'mistake' was to follow a religion that isn't evangelical Christianity.

And the armed thug threatening to murder him believes he is doing "the work of the Lord".

"Smash up the things of Satan!" the gangster barks in a video posted onto social media as the cowering man, a priest from the Umbanda religion, is made to destroy all his sacred statues in his wrecked shrine.

"Break them, break them. All this evil will be destroyed in Jesus' name. All the honour and the glory be to Jesus," he shouts.

Welcome to the world of Rio's born-again bandits, the armed narcotics gangs who have converted to evangelical Christianity - and who are ruthlessly imposing their fundamentalist beliefs on local people.

More than 10 of the Brazilian city's notorious shanty towns - home to more than a million people - are now under the control of drugs gangs who have pledged their allegiance to Christ.

But rather than leaving behind their criminal ways, the gangs are enforcing their new faith with the same vigour - and violence - as they protect their narcotics empires.

The groups have banned the practise of any other religion in their territories, dish out threats and punishments to anyone who refuses to renounce their faith, and have been dubbed "mini Christian Islamic States" by one Brazilian politician.

And it's easy to see why.

In many of the sprawling shanty towns where they rule the gangs have shut or demolished religious temples and painted over images of Catholic saints - considered blasphemous to evangelicals - on favela walls.

In the Serrinha favela in the north of Rio gangsters reportedly spent one night covering up all the Catholic slogans and images, painting them over with the words: "Only Jesus Saves".

When born-again bandits took control of the drugs trade in the Cidade Alta favela earlier this year after a bloody conflict with a rival group, shopkeepers were ordered to remove images of saints and the Virgin Mary commonly on display.

One Christian drug lord has even banned residents from accessing porn on the community's cable TV service, while others have laid down rules prohibiting homosexuality and other 'immoral' behaviour.

(Image: Getty Images)

Police believe a recent shooting in Queimados, which left two dead and seven hurt was ordered by an evangelical drug lord in revenge for an unauthorised 'gay parade' in the community.

But it is the traditional religions such as Candomble and Umbanda, considered 'demonic' by Brazil's Christians, which the 'bandidos evangelicos' - or evangelical bandits - most want to drive out of their domains.

In many areas the gangs have banned people from wearing white clothes, using African-style necklaces or even playing the African abataque drums, all associated with these religions, which blend African traditions with Catholic and spiritist beliefs.

Meanwhile, the gangs have expelled over 40 followers or priests from favelas in the last year alone who refused to abandon their faiths, according to one human rights group.

One priest, who closed his Umbanda temple for fear of being killed, believes the evangelical bandits have been "inspired by the fanatics in Islamic State".

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

He told a Brazilian newspaper: "The situation is not at all good.

"The bandits are intent on creating a Christian caliphate, where only evangelical Christianity is allowed. When they see you wearing white they come after you with everything."

In October last year a group of witches in the poor Sao Joao de Meriti district of Rio told how born again bandits had also forced them to destroy their religious objects - or face terrifying consequences.

One told the Extra newspaper: “The drug gangsters went to my house with a photo of me and told a member of my family that they are evangelicals, and that I had until midnight to remove everything to do with witchcraft from my home.”

Another said: “They are cruel. They said they would break into my house and destroy everything.

"And they said they would take me into the middle of the street and destroy me too.

“I’m very scared. I’m afraid they will attack my family and that I will die.

"They want to do the same to me as what they did to witches in the Middle Ages.”

When one powerful narcotics kingpin pledges allegiance to Jesus, their army of often hundreds of soldiers naturally follow with the same religious fervour.

Yet ironically, while the gangsters believe they are doing 'God's work' in driving out the 'demonic' religions from their communities, they continue to traffic drugs and torture and murder rivals.

(Image: LatinContent/Getty Images)

In two videos recently posted online by the bandits themselves, the persecution and humiliation of followers of other faiths by gangsters used to violence is evident.

One was filmed in Nova Iguaçu, a poor district of greater Rio de Janeiro, after seven armed bandits burst into a Candomble temple during a religious ceremony, forcing the priestess to destroy all the religious statues and other items.

According to witnesses, the gangsters urinated on the sacred images before ripping religious bead necklaces from the necks of those gathered and ordering them to leave and never come back.

In the other, filmed in the Dende favela in northern Rio, a man is made to smash up religious objects in what remains of his Umbanda shrine, one of the born-again bandits uses Christian slogans as he threatens to kill him if he tries to practise his religion again.

The bandits, who belong to the TCP criminal faction, the Pure Third Command, humiliate the priest by mocking his beliefs and making him wear a T-shirt emblazoned with the face of Jesus.

(Image: MCT via Getty Images)

Seeing the white flag of his religion, one of the gangsters shouts: "What white flag is this?

"The only flag here is of the TCP, or of Jesus Christ. Jesus first of all. Here we belong to Jesus."

He adds: "The boss doesn't want witchcraft here. I've warned you, if I catch you again or if you try to rebuild this place, I will kill you."

The 'boss' he refers to is Fernandindo Guarabu, 38, one of Rio's most powerful and longest-surviving kingpins who has ruled the Dende favela, close to Rio's international airport, for the last 13 years.

After converting to Christianity in 2006 in the Assemblies of God church, the gangster had a huge Jesus Christ tattoo on his right forearm and, according to residents, filled his luxury home with hundreds of bibles.

At the drug lord's orders, all the favela's walls were painted with Bible verses, while he has banned residents from signing up to 'sinful' porn TV channels.

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

When his cousin was hurt by the cotton line of a kite which had been coated in powdered glass, Guarabu also banned the popular sport of kite flying in the entire community of 50,000 people.

Yet at the same time he has amassed 14 arrest warrants for crimes including homicide and drug dealing and has a £8,000 reward on his head.

According to police, people who cross him, or who commit petty crimes in the favela, often disappear without a trace.

The closest police came to catching Guarabu was in 2007 when they raided his home as he was having a party for his 25th birthday.

He managed to escape but officers seized 10,000 cans of beer he had bought for the festivities.

Days later, the police HQ was sprayed with bullets from the gang's automatic machine guns.

(Image: LatinContent/Getty Images)

Since then, however, the drug lord has ruled in impunity with a recent police investigation suggesting that Guarabu pays at least 19 policemen bribes of up to £1,500 a month each to turn a blind eye to his drug trafficking, as well his violent enforcement of his born-again beliefs.

Sociologist Christina Vital da Cunha traces the born-again drugs gangs to when evangelical Christians began preaching in prisons, leading many criminals to convert before being released and returning to the trafficking gangs.

In the favelas, however, many unscrupulous pastors formed 'unholy alliances' with the drug lords, failing to challenge them about their criminal activities and convincing them to use their power to fight the 'evil' religions which often

In many shanty towns, the narcotics gangs pay tithes to the churches they frequent - which can amount of hundreds of thousands of pounds - as well as financing open air services and shows with famous gospel singers.

She said: "Drug lords like money and live in the world of crime where there is a lot of money around. And evangelical pastors don't preach that money is wrong.

"In fact they say that how wealthy you are is a measure of God's grace in your life. It's a partnership that works for everyone."

Rio state deputy Atila Nunes agrees that the churches which take in 'converted' drugs dealers might be to blame for the religious intolerance shown by the gangs.

He said: "This isn't so much about religion, but about economics.

"Evangelical leaders don't want to lose part of their flock to other religions, because they'll lose their income too, so they talk the bandits into doing something about it, using the argument that they are fighting evil and doing the Lord's work."

The result, according to Carlos Mic, president of Rio's Commission Against Discrimination, Racism and Religious Intolerance, is the alarming emergence of a Christian version of Islamic extremists.

(Image: Getty Images)

He said: "We see that there is a mini Christian Islamic State forming in Rio. An armed wing.

"As if all the oppression and suffering we have in favelas isn't enough, now we also have this?

"These are drug traffickers destroying and oppressing religious expression."

The rise in born-again bandits has led to a huge increase in reports of attacks motivated by religious intolerance in the city, from just 15 in 2011 to 1,928 cases between January 2016 and May 2017.

Mr Nunes believes it is time the city cracked down on "Christian militia" in the same way they fight against drug trafficking.

He said: "This combination of drugs trafficking and Christian fundamentalism is very worrying.

"It's illogical to bless the use of guns, persecutions, violence, because they are done 'in the name of Jesus'. It is extremely dangerous."