At least 67 people were killed over the weekend in the largest organised attack yet by drug gangs against Brazilian police and security forces, officials confirmed early on Monday.
The apparent offensive by organised crime groups was launched on Friday night and continued until Sunday in Brazil’s commercial capital, São Paulo, and outlying regions of São Paulo state.
The drug gangs were also blamed on Sunday for ongoing uprisings by prisoners in at least 60 correctional facilities. Hundreds of prison visitors were being held hostage by an estimated 30 000 inmates in the penitentiary system.
Among the dead during the weekend at police stations, jails and other sites were 35 police officers and prison guards, three civilian bystanders and 14 suspected gang members. Another 60 people have been wounded, and 20 men have been arrested.
An estimated 150 attacks took place within a 40-hour period against police stations and patrol vehicles, military facilities and prison outposts.
Police in São Paulo city were maintaining numerous roadblocks over the weekend, and key buildings such as police headquarters were under heavy guard.
Authorities believed that the coordinated mayhem was retaliation by Brazilian gangsters to the relocation of about 740 inmates recently. Among the forced transfers were at least eight high-ranking gang bosses who were placed in solitary confinement.
One infamous gang, known as Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) or the First Capital Command, was suspected of coordinating many of the attacks and prison revolts. The group is believed to be controlled largely from inside the penitentiary system.
São Paulo state governor Claudio Lembo called an emergency meeting of the heads of Brazilian security agencies. Brazil’s central government has offered the backing of federal police and the armed forces to the São Paulo state government.
Saulo de Castro Abreu Filho, security minister for São Paulo state, called the uprising an ”act of desperation”.
”Such actions by criminals will never be successful,” he said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was expected back in Brazil on Monday after attending a European Union-Latin America summit in Vienna and a state visit to Austria. – Sapa-DPA