Rio police nab “most wanted” drug trafficker

RIO DE JANEIRO,  (Reuters) – Police captured one of  Rio de Janeiro’s most-wanted drug traffickers yesterday as  they prepared to occupy the Brazilian city’s largest slum, a  vital step in preparations to host the Olympic Games in 2016.  

“Nem,” the alleged drug lord of the teeming Rocinha slum,  was captured in bizarre circumstances when police said they  found him in the trunk of a luxury car being driven by other  gang members posing as diplomats from the Democratic Republic  of Congo.  

Television images showed the fresh-faced Nem, reported to  be 35 years old, sitting in the trunk of a police car and  looking close to tears after his arrest.  

Nem

“It’s a historic moment in the fight against drug  trafficking in Rio de Janeiro,” said Jose Mariano Beltrame, the  state security secretary who leading Rio’s push to crack down  on organized crime and police corruption.  

Police told reporters they had stopped the car as it tried  to leave Rocinha, one of Latin America’s most infamous slums —  a sprawling hillside home to more than 100,000 people that is  close to some of Rio’s most exclusive areas and best beaches. 
 
They said the car’s three occupants identified themselves  as the Congolese consul, another diplomat from the African  country and a lawyer. They tried to bribe police with cash to  allow them to pass. Nem put up no resistance when police opened  the trunk and was taken along with his three associates to the  federal police headquarters in Rio. 

“He sent a message to his children telling them not to miss  their lessons,” federal police officer Victor Poubel was quoted  as saying by the Globo TV network.  

Police are expected to invade and occupy Rocinha as early  as this weekend as Rio authorities expand a security program  that is taking back swathes of the city that have long been  dominated by armed drug gangs. Previous occupations of more  than a dozen slums have been carried out with barely a shot  fired as drug gangs have been warned in advance of the heavily  armed invasions. 
 
Officials say they intend to expand police occupations to  all of the remaining major gang strongholds by 2014, when Rio  will be a World Cup host city and two years before it showcases  itself to the world again as host of the Olympic Games.  

The existence of slum areas outside the control of the  state has been increasingly at odds with Rio’s rise as the  center of Brazil’s new oil wealth and host of the global  showpiece events.