Rio Troops Restore Order as Crime Stronghold Crumbles
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Rio de Janeiro police and armed forces restored peace after a week of attacks on cars and shootings in slums as the city’s biggest organized crime stronghold crumbled.
A 2,700-strong security force ended three decades of crime rule in the dozen hillside shanty towns known as Complexo do Alemao. Officers placed a Brazilian flag on a hilltop to mark their victory yesterday after two days of shootings and residents waved white flags among Army tanks to celebrate. Police are searching the 30,000 houses in the slums to hunt down fugitive drug leaders, while others surrender.