Ministro da Justiça diz que madrugada de terror foi reação à prisão de traficante
( Minister of Justice says that terror (at) dawn was reaction to the arrest of dealer)
The building known as the Meridian that was bombed early in the morning of March 31st, is about 200 yards from my place. I was up and online when these events happened.
(translation of article--best I could do)
Bandos attacks some quarters of the city
Alba Valéria Mendonça - the Globe Cristiane de Cássia - the Globe
CBN
RIVER - the police already arrested three suspects involved in the actions of vandalism that had shocked the city this morning. A couple(meaning more than 2), that according to the policemen of 22º BPM (Benfica), participated in the attacks of buses at Brazil Avenue, was imprisoned in the New Slum quarter Holland. The suspects that had been apprehended had stolen a Twister motorcycle, a pistol 762 and one kilo of cocaine. The occurrence and the inquiries are the position of 21ª DP (Bonsucesso). Much earlier, policemen of the Private Service of 22º BPM had arrested Renato Azevedo Souza, the Xuxa, of 26 years, also accused with participation in the attacks.
Dealer Renato Azevedo confessed to the police to have participated in the attacks. It counted that about 30 criminals, all armed ones, had set on fire two buses and two cars, which close the four lanes of the avenue. According to Xuxa, the action was done for a known criminal named "Moral" Andres, of the Village Cruise, in the Complex of the Penha. Renato said that Andres would have been guided for some integrant one of the Red Command that would be imprisoned, but that it does not know who is.
- We knew that the inauguration of the Battalion of Military Policy of the Tide would occur in briefing and made the tram in retaliation -- Renato counted, mentioning itself it the unit of the p.m. in phase of construction in the place.
However, the commission agent of the police station of Bonsucesso, Reginaldo Guillermo, considered most likely that the attack of the traffic (buses and cars) had been motivated by the arrest on friday of the dealer Jorge Alexander Cândido, “the Shade” of the Rocinha.
During the dawn, outlaws had set on fire bus(es) and planted bombs in three different points of the city: in Bonsucesso, the suburb; in Del Castilho, also in the suburb; e in the Helm, the south zone. A lieutenant of the Military Policy died and one suspect was imprisoned.
The minister of Justice, Márcio Thomaz Bastos, also attributed the attacks to action of organized crime, in retaliation to the arrest of the drug dealing “Shade”, in the Rocinha. Arm-right of Fernandinho Beira-Mar, Shade is accused to sponsor similar attacks with the (drug) control of Beira-Mar in September of the last year and January of this year.
(end of article)
What the article fails to mention (due to censorship) is that a building not more than 200 yards from my place had 2 grenades tossed inside of the lobby...in which the lobby was decimated. The reason as to why this was not reported officially, is because there are still a great deal of tourists in the area (left over from Carnaval) and they wish not to scare them away. Wonderful eh? However they do mention the buses and cars that were torched by these roving drug gangs.