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Fill the power vacuum left by the destruction of drug gangs in favelas, becoming the new force that rules these regions while partaking in the same activities the gangs used to.
Brazilian militias (Portuguese: Milícias), mainly in Rio de Janeiro, and some other cities of Brazil, are illegal mafia-like paramilitary groups made up of current and former police (CivilorMilitary) officers as well as Military Firefighters Corps officers, criminals, politicians, and military officers, operating also as a regular mafia by trade extortion and political influence.[1]
Militias carry out both vigilante and organized crime activities. In the favelas, drug gangs like ADA and Red Command control trafficking and violence networks, openly selling drugs and carrying weapons as well as acting as the de facto authorities, building infrastructure and enforcing their own brand of law and order. These police-backed militias historically force out the drug traffickers in order to set up their own protection rackets, extorting residents and taxing basic services.[2][3][4][5]
The militias have their roots in the death squads of the Brazilian military dictatorship in 1964.[1] They emerged in the late 2000s, being made up of off-duty police officers with assistance from local businessmen who need protection from armed gangs.[6]
Thanks to close ties to the official police force, the militias often enjoy the support of local politicians.[7][8]
Cesar Maia, Rio de Janeiro's mayor 1993-97 and 2001-09 supported the rise of militias; in his words, militias were "community self-defense" and "an evil better than drug gangs".[9]
In 2008, a group of journalists in disguise documenting the militia's actions were kidnapped and tortured by a militia. The journalists were held for seven hours before being freed without any harm. Although the identities of the journalists remain secret (with the exception of photojournalist Nilton Claudinho), two politicians were accused of orchestrating the kidnapping: Coronel Jairo [pt] and his son Dr. Jairinho.
Even in 2008, innumerable civilians have been killed by militias trying to incriminate local drug dealers and trying to enforce the political candidacy of Carminha Jerominho.
