Trafficking and Militia Are Equivalents, Says Rio’s Civil Police Head

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Traffickers and militiamen are equally criminals, without distinction, acting both in drug trafficking, cargo theft and auto theft. The statement was made on Tuesday, November 26th, by the Civil Police Secretary of Rio de Janeiro, chief inspector Marcus Vinícius Braga, at a press conference on the death of a wanted criminal and the latest crime rates reported in the state.

“Trafficking and militia today are exactly the same thing. They are perverse criminals who control local society, regardless of whether society wants it or not. We deal with militia just as we deal with trafficking. They are criminals. It’s a lie that militiamen don’t traffic drugs, it’s a lie that they don’t steal cargo, they don’t steal cars. They do everything the trafficker does,” said Braga.

According to the secretary, the fight against the militias is more complex than the repression of drug trafficking, because it is not as visible and requires additional investigation. This called for a learning curve for the police, according to the delegate, to allow them to fight the militias.

“The State and Civil Police began to grasp the work of the militia. It’s not easy. In the beginning, we didn’t know what our work would be like. Traffickers can be seen with drugs, the militia requires investigation. It is very difficult to catch a militiaman in the act, except for carrying a gun,” said Marcus Vinícius.

During the press conference, which addressed the death of Thomas Jhayson Vieira Gome and five more people who were with him early in the morning, the delegate also spoke about the state’s crime rates, released on Monday, November 25th, which point to a significant decrease in murders and the constant increase in the number of people killed in police operations.

“There is no way to reduce 884 deaths and say that we have reduced for this or that reason. A number of factors that the state police are developing and working together are producing this decrease. First-degree murder is our main goal,” said the secretary. He noted that the reduction in other crime groups contributed to the decrease in homicide cases, such as the lower number of auto thefts, which recorded 33,652 cases from January to October this year, 10,559 less than the previous year.

Deaths in clashes

On the increase in the number of deaths in clashes, the secretary emphasized that it is the result of the reaction of criminals to the police: “Death by police intervention is nothing more than the subject’s reaction at the time of the operation. Period.

The State Police spokesman, Colonel Mauro Flies, who also attended the press conference, ascribed the high rate of deaths of criminals to their behavior, many of them young and heavily armed. “It is worth noting that our operations are programmed with intelligence data and aim to preserve lives. However, insane criminals, carrying war weapons, do not surrender. They seek confrontation, they dare to attack the state and society,” Flies said.

There were 1,546 cases of deaths in clashes with the police, from January to October 2019, against 1,310 in the same period last year, an increase of 236 deaths.

Source: Agência Brasil