Berliner Tageszeitung - Brazil police mount new operation in Rio favelas

One of the favelas concerned is Cidade de Deus -- made famous in the 2002 movie City of God -- where AFP journalists noted a strong police presence from dawn.

"There is no place that public authorities cannot enter. We are working to restore order," Rio state governor Claudio Castro told a press conference.

Police raids are common in the favelas, which are poor, densely populated communities with a vibrant culture but high levels of insecurity due to the presence of drug traffickers and paramilitary militias.

Security experts criticize the police operations, which often end in gunfights and have an outsized impact on the local population, while barely making a dent against gangs.

The open-ended operation launched Monday aims to "end the war between drug trafficking and militias in this area of western Rio," the governor said.

He said the Comando Vermelho drug trafficking cartel, the most powerful in the Rio region, had been trying to "recover territories from the militias" in the area.

The militias first formed around four decades ago when former police officers and soldiers banded together to offer protection from violent drug cartels.

They then transformed into powerful criminal organizations that control large swathes of the city, extorting money from residents and venturing into drug and arms trafficking.

P. Rasmussen--BTZ