Brazil’s Rio Grande do Norte state lives another dawn of terror and criminal police officer is shot dead

The night of Friday (17) and the early hours of this Saturday (18) were marked by more violence in Rio Grande do Norte. This was the fifth night of attacks by a criminal gang in drug trafficking in the capital, Natal.

In the early morning, criminals with guns expelled residents and set fire to three houses in a city neighborhood.

In the criminal action, four hooded men dressed in bulletproof vests evicted nine residents from three houses, all from the same family.

According to Agência Brasil, a 77-year-old woman was taken out of bed with a gun pointed at her head on Saturday morning.

In another criminal action in Greater Natal, a criminal policeman was shot dead in a new attack.

According to the police, the crime happened around 9:30 pm in a commercial area. Family members said the criminal policeman was hit with three arm, leg, and chest shots.

He was rescued and taken by the Military Police to the hospital, but he did not resist the injuries and died.

104 ARRESTED

According to the Secretariat of Public Safety of Rio Grande do Norte, until 6 am this Saturday, 104 people had been arrested.

In total, 29 firearms, 87 explosive devices, and 23 gallons of gasoline were seized since last Tuesday (14), in addition to 11 motorcycles and two cars, money, drugs, and ammunition.

Theft items were also recovered. Among those arrested are fugitives from justice and people who use an electronic anklets for illicit situations.

SECURITY FORCES UNITED

With the arrival of the national secretary of Public Safety, Tadeu Alencar, to the state on Friday, Governor Fátima Bezerra said that the integrated action of the Rio Grande de Norte security forces together with the National Force is a demonstration that the state will continue “tireless in taking the necessary measures to restore peace and public order throughout Rio Grande do Norte”.

Besides the national secretary of Public Safety, the national secretary of Penitentiary Management, Rafael Velasco, also arrived in Rio Grande do Norte on Thursday.

The military police and the Civil Police of Rio Grande do Norte joined the members of the National Force in various parts of the city and in integrated actions to combat the latest events that have plagued the state.

Under the coordination of the State Department of Public Safety, the reinforcement will reach approximately 500 men and women sent by the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety.

TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL PRISONS

In response to the criminal attacks, a new action of the Penitentiary Cooperation Force (Focopen) of the National Secretariat of Penal Policies, an organ of the Ministry of Justice and Public Safety, federal penitentiary police officers transferred nine more prisoners from the Rogério Coutinho Penitentiary, located in the Alcaçuz Complex, to the Federal Penitentiary System (SPF).

The operation had the support of the Secretariat of Penitentiary Administration of the state. Since the beginning of the crisis, ten state prisoners have been transferred to federal prisons.

The removal was done at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the state of Rio Grande do Norte and the local government and authorized by the Court of Criminal Enforcement.

ACCUSATIONS

The detainees are accused of commanding crimes such as homicides and drug trafficking. In addition, they are also involved in escape plans and attacks on public and private property in Rio Grande do Norte.

The transferred prisoners can stay in any of the five federal units in Catanduvas (PR), Campo Grande, Mossoró (RN), Porto Velho, and Brasília.

In the Federal Penitentiary System, prisoners will be isolated in individual cells, with monitored visits and only in a parlatory and with strict security procedures.