Child soldiers, torture and executions… Inside Rio’s slum druglord wars where gangs train kids before ‘sacrificing’ them
KISSING their loved ones goodbye before work is how many Rio cops begin their day – knowing it could very well be their last.
Fighting child soldiers, enduring torturous training, and facing death every day is how police officers in Rio de Janeiro combat the deadly war against drug lords while getting paid less than £800 a month.
Rio has numerous informal settlements, known as “favelas”, where poverty, lack of infrastructure, and limited government control can foster crime and violence.
Former Rio de Janeiro cop Charles Cardoso revealed some of the ins and outs of the job when serving the Brazilian city in the early 2000s.
Cardoso has never been in the front line against favela criminals, but he has gone undercover to map out the area before police crackdowns.
This included observing the behaviour of its residents, mapping out all entrances and exits, spots that could become escape routes for criminals, and seeing what type of weapons they carry.
“I will never forget the feeling of helplessness I felt when I entered a favela,” Cardoso shared.
“You are left without authority or don’t feel like you can exercise it.
“But what absolutely broke my heart was was seeing 12-year-old boys holding rifles.”
Officers often face high levels of crime, including drug-related violence and gang activity.
They work in a dynamic and often dangerous environment, dealing with issues like poverty, corruption, and significant socio-economic disparities.
The job demands resilience, adaptability, and courage while navigating a demanding and sometimes controversial role in maintaining public safety.
The city’s issues are often linked to poverty, inequality, and the presence of organised crime.
Geographical factors can contribute to the daily challenge of a Rio cop, as the city’s geography, with its densely populated areas makes law enforcement and surveillance challenging.
The city serves as a hub for drug trafficking, leading to turf wars and violence among rival gangs vying for control of territories.
There is also a significant gap between the rich and the poor, leading to social tension and contributing to criminal activity.
According to Cardoso, the elite training brings an “inexplicable physical and psychological pressure”, but he said it does not compare to the daily war that police officers face in Rio de Janeiro.
Trainees would be locked inside pitch black rooms, filled with pepper spray and tear gas, he told The Sun.
“There were some passwords written on the walls that we had to shout to be able to leave,” Cardoso said.
“But if I opened my mouth to scream, the tear gas and pepper spray enter my throat.
“That was torture because I couldn’t see anything because of the pepper spray in my eyes and throat. It was horrible.
“And when I left, I remember that during this test the guy grabbed me by my shirt and shouted in my face: you’re a piece of s**t!”
He added that officers more often that not don’t have an armoured vehicle when fighting an enemy, who most of the time is heavily armed.
“And it’s not just any weapon – several of these drug dealers with rifles that shoot down helicopters,” he said.
Cardoso said: “For us, every day is as if it were the last. We are almost like soldiers.
“We leave our homes with our promise to protect our community not knowing if we will come back home to our wives and family.
“All this working 12 hours a day and receiving an average salary that was as little as R$4,000 Brazilian reais (£667).”
As of October 2023, the average monthly pay for a police officer in Rio de Janeiro can vary from R$4,778 (£796) to R$10,000 (£1,667), Glassdoor.com.br reports.
The Brazilian government has periodically launched efforts to regain control and reduce crime in the favelas, but it has been a complex, decades-long crisis.
Cardoso revealed how criminals in Rio are now recruiting men who did not join the army and “came fresh out of the barracks”.
“Gangs now don’t have to ‘waste time’ training these boys as they come ready to fight, knowing all the weapons and combat techniques.
“These boys will also earn way more money in organised crime as drug lords often tend to double whatever they would earn in the military.”
It comes after a two-year investigation by the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police discovered gangsters receiving guerrilla training in one of the city’s largest favelas.
Drug traffickers and their minions took over a public football court and swimming pool, where they carry out military-style training while heavily armed.
The “training centre” is dangerously located next to a daycare centre and five local schools.
“The moment they are close to schools, they are more protected, as the police will have greater difficulty and even be prevented from operating in these regions.
“The police do not want any innocent person, especially children, to suffer harm caused by these traffickers”, officer Hilton Alonson told Brazilian outlet Globo.
Images captured by police revealed two instructors teaching groups of 15 to 20 men, all armed with rifles.
Researchers identified some practices similar to those learned in national security forces.
Despite its best efforts to maintain peace across the city, the Rio de Janeiro police force has faced criticism and scrutiny for instances of violence.
There have been reported cases of excessive use of force, extrajudicial killings, and human rights abuses attributed to some members of the police force, particularly in dealing with the city’s crime and gang-related issues.
Separate studies released by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in 2016 reported that the Rio de Janeiro police force might be one of the most violent in the world.
They accuse police of torturing and killing civilians, particularly young black men, during arrest.
In 2014, there were 584 people killed during the course of arrest, rising to 645 the following year.
As of May 2016, 322 civilians were killed as a result of police interventions in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
A 2014 study by Stanford University found that one reason that makes Rio cops so violent is that many officers have had personal exposure to violence, a taboo subject in law enforcement circles.
It found that many experienced high levels of violence during childhood, with roughly 18% witnessing a homicide as a child.