Brazilian security forces have occupied the largest slum in Rio de Janeiro to ferret out drug gangs operating there, according to reports.
Several hundred special forces, soldiers, and navy commandos moved into the shantytown, according to the BBC.
“I have the pleasure to inform you that Rocinha and Vidigal are under our control,” chief of military police Alberto Pinheiro Neto said in reference to Rocinha, the largest favela (shantytown), and Vidigal another nearby, according to the broadcaster.
“”There were no incidents and no shots were fired,” he added. “We don’t have any information on arrests or weapons seized.”
The move is part of a cleanup effort ahead of the 2014 Soccer World Cup games and the 2016 Olympics, which will be held in Rio.
“The pacification of Rocinha means that authorities have closed a security loop around the areas that will host most of the Olympic and World Cup activities,” Paulo Storani, a consultant who used to head the police unit leading the invasion, told The Associated Press.
