By IANS
Rio de Janeiro : At least four people have been killed in an incursion by drug traffickers into a shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s Globonews television reported.
A group of about 30 unidentified individuals opened fire Sunday in Vila Palmeirinha, a shantytown in the northern Rio neighbourhood of Guadalupe, killing four people, EFE news agency reported.
Residents told Globonews that the drug traffickers regained control of the shantytown, which until last week was under the control of a militia group that had defeated the criminals and forced them out two years ago.
The militiamen were expelled from the shantytown last Thursday by a special police unit targeting organised crime.
Rio de Janeiro has become one of the most dangerous cities in Brazil due to the constant clashes among rival drug gangs, police and death squads.