RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “There are 25 criminals dead, there are no wounded,” a source from the Federal Highway Police (PRF) reported.
The joint operation with the State Police took place in the municipality of Varginha, Minas Gerais, when 50 agents raided two farms where “members of a criminal organization specialized in bank and ATM robberies” were preparing to rob several branches in the municipality.
In one of the farms, gunfire exchange with the police left “18 dead.” Another 7 were killed in the raid on the second farm. There were no casualties among the security forces.
“We were met with gunfire at the time of approach, so the officers were forced to counter-attack to protect their lives,” said the Minas Gerais State Police Special Operations Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Rodolfo Morotti Fernandes.
“It is probably the largest operation against this type of crime in the country. A large number of criminals were preparing to rob banks and our intelligence service detected them,” said State Police Captain Layla Brunnela.
The identity of the deceased was not disclosed.
HIGH LEVEL OF ORGANIZATION
During the operation, a large number of weapons (long weapons, rifles, grenades, ammunition…), bulletproof vests and several stolen vehicles were seized. According to the PRF, this type of gangs use stolen vehicles (which are often set on fire) to block streets after bank robberies and hinder police pursuit.
“By the level of organization, the equipment used, the number of members, the number of vehicles, this is a large gang. They are most certainly beginners who grouped together,” the lieutenant colonel said.
In recent years, Brazil has registered several robberies with a similar mode to this botched one: a high degree of planning, heavy weapons and carried out in medium-sized cities to ensure an escape route and significant loot in bank vaults. The police and journalists have dubbed these gangs the “novo cangaço” , in a reference to the “cangaço” gangs that terrorized the interior Brazil’s Northeast region decades ago.
In August, a gang terrorized the streets of downtown Araçatuba, in the state of São Paulo, in an attack that left 3 people dead, using drones, explosives and hostages as human shields in their escape.
BOPE’s Morotti Fernandes added that “it is possible that it is the same gang responsible for Araçatuba” and other cities that have experienced similar crimes, such as Uberaba, in Minas Gerais, or Criciúma, in Santa Catarina.