RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – "From now on I want two dollars per gas canister. If you don't pay...!" -- the crackling voice on the police intercept picked up here did not need to complete the sentence.But this time the threat was not from the drug gangs that have long plagued Rio De Janeiro's slums, but one of several squads of corrupt police, known as "milicias," that are tightening their grip over much of the city.The milicias, made up largely of off-duty firefighters, police and prison guards, have emerged as a new mafia and seized control of more than 100 of the city's 250 largest shantytowns, according to a report published this month by Paulo Storani, a former military police special forces commander.By way of comparison, the Brazilian city's largest drug cartel, the Commando Vermelho, controls just 55, it said.The changing face of organized crime in the seaside city is one of many challenges facing security forces ahead of its hosting of the 2016 Olympics."The milicias exist in Rio and they have not ceased to advance since 2000," said Marcelo Freixo, a state government deputy from Rio who chaired a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the groups in 2008."The only organized crime in Rio comes from the milicias," added the veteran leftwing politician, who has received death threats since heading the commission and been defended by Amnesty International."The drug traffickers of the shantytowns represent the crime of poverty. I've never seen a toothless, uneducated mafioso," he said.The milicias have lately taken center stage following the release in early October of the film "Elite Squad 2," the sequel to a popular movie about drug traffickers.The latest installment has already been seen by nearly 10 million Brazilians, setting a box office record.Long seen as a "lesser evil" compared to the drug cartels, the milicias are descended from the paramilitary death squads that hunted down opponents of Brazil's military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985 and more recent groups that targeted street kids in the slums.The milicias' rise began in December 2006 when they swept into several shantytowns in the western part of the city to drive out drug cartels."The milicias came in and offered their so-called protection to the residents in exchange for a 'security tax,' but then they took over gas distribution, the minibus service and cable TV," Freixo says."They are found in neighborhoods where the state is absent."Such activities have in recent years become more profitable than drugs. In the Rio das Pedras shantytown a local milicia made 2.5 million dollars a month in 2008 from the minibus service alone, the parliamentary report said.The gangs still bill themselves as the good guys -- the most well-known calling itself the "League of Justice" and emblazoning its members' houses with the Batman symbol.But they have harshly resisted outside scrutiny. In May 2008 a milicia in the Batan shantytown captured and tortured three investigative journalists. They were released two weeks later after being ordered to keep quiet."The milicias also have a finger in politics," said Freixo, whose report listed some 200 members who had been involved in local campaigns.After the release of the report several milicia leaders were arrested, including three members of the city council and a regional deputy.But Freixo, who won re-election in October, said the local government was unlikely to back a larger crackdown. "It lacks the political will to combat the milicias because they get a lot of people elected."He warns that the phenomenon is spreading to other parts of Brazil and says the government must act quickly to halt its spread."The milicias have been weakened politically but to make them disappear you have to cut off their source of financing," he said.Amnesty has also long called for stepped up actions against the milicias, attributing their growth to "decades of public security policy based on negligence, human rights violations and impunity of perpetrators.""This has allowed criminal and corrupt police officers to thrive at the cost of those working tirelessly to serve the community," it said in a 2009 statement after police uncovered plans to assassinate Freixo.Claudio Ferraz, the head of the Rio police's organized crime unit, told the O Globo daily earlier this month that his forces had arrested nearly 650 milicia members in the last three years, to little effect."As with drug trafficking, the imprisoned leaders are quickly replaced," he said.MixMag presents album.Crook Type mp3 downloads.Nature (the Essence part 3) albums.Mobfest mp3 download.Hi Fi (6 september 2007) tracks
Bad cop 'milicias' rise as new lords of Rio slums
RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – "From now on I want two dollars per gas canister. If you don't pay...!" -- the crackling voice on the police intercept picked up here did not need to complete the sentence.But this time the threat was not from the drug gangs that have long plagued Rio De Janeiro's slums, but one of several squads of corrupt police, known as "milicias," that are tightening their grip over much of the city.The milicias, made up largely of off-duty firefighters, police and prison guards, have emerged as a new mafia and seized control of more than 100 of the city's 250 largest shantytowns, according to a report published this month by Paulo Storani, a former military police special forces commander.By way of comparison, the Brazilian city's largest drug cartel, the Commando Vermelho, controls just 55, it said.The changing face of organized crime in the seaside city is one of many challenges facing security forces ahead of its hosting of the 2016 Olympics."The milicias exist in Rio and they have not ceased to advance since 2000," said Marcelo Freixo, a state government deputy from Rio who chaired a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the groups in 2008."The only organized crime in Rio comes from the milicias," added the veteran leftwing politician, who has received death threats since heading the commission and been defended by Amnesty International."The drug traffickers of the shantytowns represent the crime of poverty. I've never seen a toothless, uneducated mafioso," he said.The milicias have lately taken center stage following the release in early October of the film "Elite Squad 2," the sequel to a popular movie about drug traffickers.The latest installment has already been seen by nearly 10 million Brazilians, setting a box office record.Long seen as a "lesser evil" compared to the drug cartels, the milicias are descended from the paramilitary death squads that hunted down opponents of Brazil's military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985 and more recent groups that targeted street kids in the slums.The milicias' rise began in December 2006 when they swept into several shantytowns in the western part of the city to drive out drug cartels."The milicias came in and offered their so-called protection to the residents in exchange for a 'security tax,' but then they took over gas distribution, the minibus service and cable TV," Freixo says."They are found in neighborhoods where the state is absent."Such activities have in recent years become more profitable than drugs. In the Rio das Pedras shantytown a local milicia made 2.5 million dollars a month in 2008 from the minibus service alone, the parliamentary report said.The gangs still bill themselves as the good guys -- the most well-known calling itself the "League of Justice" and emblazoning its members' houses with the Batman symbol.But they have harshly resisted outside scrutiny. In May 2008 a milicia in the Batan shantytown captured and tortured three investigative journalists. They were released two weeks later after being ordered to keep quiet."The milicias also have a finger in politics," said Freixo, whose report listed some 200 members who had been involved in local campaigns.After the release of the report several milicia leaders were arrested, including three members of the city council and a regional deputy.But Freixo, who won re-election in October, said the local government was unlikely to back a larger crackdown. "It lacks the political will to combat the milicias because they get a lot of people elected."He warns that the phenomenon is spreading to other parts of Brazil and says the government must act quickly to halt its spread."The milicias have been weakened politically but to make them disappear you have to cut off their source of financing," he said.Amnesty has also long called for stepped up actions against the milicias, attributing their growth to "decades of public security policy based on negligence, human rights violations and impunity of perpetrators.""This has allowed criminal and corrupt police officers to thrive at the cost of those working tirelessly to serve the community," it said in a 2009 statement after police uncovered plans to assassinate Freixo.Claudio Ferraz, the head of the Rio police's organized crime unit, told the O Globo daily earlier this month that his forces had arrested nearly 650 milicia members in the last three years, to little effect."As with drug trafficking, the imprisoned leaders are quickly replaced," he said.MixMag presents album.Crook Type mp3 downloads.Nature (the Essence part 3) albums.Mobfest mp3 download.Hi Fi (6 september 2007) tracks