Police intelligence officer Adriano Barbosa tracked the drug gang leader known as “Little P” for almost a month as part of Brazil’s push to curb violence in Rio de Janeiro’s slums before the World Cup starts today.
The real-time reports on Little P’s whereabouts weren’t coming from police informants. Nor from undercover officers. Barbosa had a more high-tech tool for the hunt that led to the March 26 arrest: a Heron drone outfitted with a heat-sensing camera. The drone, produced by Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd., allowed Barbosa to monitor Little P at night, far from view and earshot.
