Rio police transfer 'drug barons'

By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo

Brazilian police are involved in a major crackdown against Rio's drug gangs

Brazilian police have moved 10 men seen as leading drug traffickers from a jail in Rio de Janeiro to a high security prison in another part of the country.

The move comes as Rio police hunt for members of drug gangs who shot down a police helicopter last Saturday, killing three officers.

A week of gang violence in the city's shanty towns has left 40 people dead.

The authorities reportedly believe orders for attacks are coming from gang leaders who have already been jailed.

It is commonplace for gang leaders in Brazil to continue to direct criminal activity from inside jail using mobile phones.

It seems the authorities hope that by moving the prisoners, it will help to bring the latest outbreak of violence in the city under control.

The ten men were moved amid tight security from a jail in the west of Rio de Janeiro to a maximum security prison in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul where, initially at least, they will be held in isolation.

Peace protests

A peace protest was held at the world famous Copacabana beach

Last Saturday, an attempt by one drug gang to take over a shanty town - or favela - controlled by another faction sparked a week of deadly violence.

In what is thought to have been an unprecedented action, a police helicopter was shot down, killing three of those on board.

The authorities in Rio appear determined to track down those behind the attack.

As the violence continues, a demonstration was held on Saturday on the world famous Copacabana beach calling for peace.

Protesters dressed in black and wearing white masks - suggesting they were corpses - lay in supermarket trolleys simulating the way one murder victim was found earlier this week.

The man had apparently been tortured before being killed. A graphic picture of onlookers - including children - standing beside his body was used in newspapers in Brazil and around the world.

Despite the calls for peace, intense gun battles in Rio on Friday between drug traffickers and police caused panic among residents near the shanty town of Vila Cruzeiro in the north of city.

There is no sign yet of an end to this sustained and deadly period of violence.