Sawt Falasteen - Eight killed during Rio police operation, including drug kingpin

Around 150 members of the city's elite BOPE military police unit, backed by two armored vehicles, deployed in several favelas in the touristy Santa Teresa neighborhood targeting a prominent narcotrafficker.

"A major armed confrontation ensued," leading to the death of the target, Claudio Augusto dos Santos, 55, identified as a key figure within one of Brazil's largest criminal groups, Comando Vermelho (Red Command), said military police chief Marcelo Menezes Nogueira.

Dos Santos had at least eight outstanding arrest warrants for kidnapping, drug trafficking, and homicide, Menezes Nogueira told a press conference.

He described Dos Santos as "a ruthless and bloodthirsty drug trafficker" who had 135 criminal charges on record.

Police also killed six other suspected criminals.

The eighth victim was a local resident who had been taken hostage along with his partner, who survived, Menezes Noguiera said.

In retaliation for the police operation, a bus was set on fire on a major avenue in downtown Rio, and barricades were erected using other vehicles, AFP journalists witnessed.

Menezes Nogueira said that Red Command members were behind the actions which caused traffic chaos in the city center.

Rio de Janeiro has long battled territorial control by criminal factions and residents are weary of violence and chronic insecurity.

In October last year, the biggest police operation in Brazil's history saw officers clash with heavily armed gang members in military gear. At least 117 suspected criminals and four police officers were killed.

Rights organizations slammed the raid, which President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called a "massacre."

Polls, however, show that the majority of Brazilians approved of the operation and, as October elections loom, security has become the main concern for voters in the country.

Also on Wednesday, Brazilian police launched a separate operation across 15 states targeting organizations linked to drug and arms trafficking.

The police operations come as local media reports Lula's government is lobbying Washington not to designate Red Command and the powerful First Capital Command (PCC) as terrorist organizations.

Brasilia considers the organized crime factions to be criminal and not terrorist organizations.

A State Department spokesperson told AFP that both organizations pose "significant threats to regional security," but that advance notice was not given on such designations.

P.AbuBaker--SF-PST