The Military Police (PM) of Rio de Janeiro arrested this Thursday (5) 22 criminals and seized five rifles, five pistols, twelve grenades and more than a ton of drugs in Complexo da Maré, in the north zone of the capital. The action was aimed at arresting criminals from other states who would be hiding in the region. Of the total number of prisoners, 16 were hiding inside the Integrated Public Education Center (Ciep), a school unit in the community. As a safety measure, 23 schools in the municipal and state education networks were closed throughout the day, leaving thousands of children without classes.
The operation was carried out by military police from the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) and the Dog Actions Battalion (BAC), with support from the PM battalion installed in Maré.
Bope police seized two rifles, a pistol and five grenades in a sweep of the community. One of the arrested criminals is from the state of Mato Grosso. Military police and BAC sniffer dogs seized 180 marijuana tablets, 1,247 bottles of perfume launchers and four gallons of loló, totaling about a ton of drugs. Five grenades were also seized in the action.
Fourteen vehicles were recovered, including 12 cars and two motorcycles, in addition to 20 electronic cigarettes, 11 rifle and drug magazines also in Nova Holanda, one of the 16 communities that make up Complexo da Maré. Police officers also detained a man from the state of Espírito Santo and referred him to the Civil Police to find out if he had a criminal record.
During the search, in the morning, the criminals fled into an Integrated Public Education Center (Ciep), a teaching unit in Complexo da Maré, and the Bope teams negotiated the surrender of the men. In the action, 16 criminals were arrested and three rifles, four pistols, nine grenades, five radio communicators and about three kilos of marijuana were seized.
According to intelligence data, the leaders of the criminal faction that control drug trafficking in Maré ordered the population to go to the school to prevent the withdrawal of criminals from Ciep. To control the situation, the police used tear gas bombs, equipment with less offensive power.
