Brazilian reporter runs afoul of Rio's deadly drug gangs

RIO de JANEIRO, Brazil -- Television reporter Tim Lopes had one more night of hidden camera shooting before he could air his expose of drug dealers, sex and cocaine in one of Rio's toughest favelas.

He never finished.

On the night of June 2, Lopes -- a star for Brazil's largest network, TV Globo -- was kidnapped, tortured and killed by drug dealers.

While hundreds of people are killed every year by increasingly violent drug dealers, the publicity surrounding Lopes' death spurred authorities into action. Police arrested five suspects and killed another in a shootout; one reportedly committed suicide. Authorities have pledged to arrest alleged ringleader "Crazy Elias" Pereira da Silva.

While applauding the arrests, ordinary Brazilians are asking why the police aren't also pursuing the killers of community activists in the front lines opposing the drug gangs.

Helio Luz, Rio's police chief from 1995-97, accused police of protecting criminal gangs and said they have "no real interest in fighting drug trafficking." In the Lopes case, "they're interested in the spectacle."

The heavy-set, bearded Lopes was a fixture on Rio TV. Born in a favela, or slum, himself, he had an affinity for the downtrodden, according to Renato Machado, co-anchor of TV Globo's Good Morning Brazil program and friend of Lopes.

"He had these extraordinary sources who got him integrated into the city's life, especially people who don't have access to the riches of the country," said Machado.

Last year Lopes produced a series of award-winning reports that showed drug dealers openly selling their wares in one favela, offering to bargain down their prices for passers-by. "It was like an auction," said Machado. Lopes' stories led to crackdowns on those dealers and angered other gangs in the city.

In May, Lopes received complaints from residents of the Vila Cruzeiro favela in north Rio that drug dealers were using dance parties to distribute drugs and encourage open sexual activity, sometimes with underage girls.

Lopes used a small, hidden camera to film the parties at public dance halls. He told his editors he needed just one more night's shooting to complete the story.

Apparently members of a drug gang recognized Lopes at the party and kidnapped him. According to Machado, Lopes was shot in the knee, tortured and killed. His body was found in a clandestine cemetery with the body parts of other gang victims.

Machado says the Lopes killing demonstrates the awesome power of drug dealers who control certain favelas. The police dare not patrol in some areas, according to Machado, and only enter during heavily armed special operations. "In the heart of the favelas, there is a parallel power," said Machado.

But some residents say such claims exaggerate the drug dealers' power and serve to absolve authorities of responsibility. Jose da Silva, a resident of the Vidigal favela, says the drug dealers do intimidate the community. "But the government has the power, not the drug dealers," he said.

Luz, the former Rio police chief and now an assemblyman in the Rio state legislature, says the drug dealers are too disorganized to exercise parallel power.

"The police can go anywhere in the favelas," said Luz. "They have to go in there to collect their bribes."

An entry-level officer in Rio's Civil Police earns $400 a month, and those in other police agencies earn even less. The drug dealers can easily bribe the police, admits Zaqueu Teixeira, chief of Rio's Civil Police.

In defense of his officers, Teixeira says police are no more corrupt than other government employees. "Every part of society that has economic power develops its own level of corruption," he said.

Rio residents complain that police complicity means they have little defense against the drug lords.

Antonio Araujo, a community leader and percussionist at a samba school, refused to allow a local drug dealer to rent a neighborhood hall. He was killed July 24.

Unlike the Lopes case, Araujo's death received little media coverage and scant police attention, according to Ernesto Nasciomento, carnival director of the samba school.

"It's chaos," said Nasciomento. "We're facing a war situation."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright