MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil begins “spy” aircraft surveillance against organized crime in favelas

The unmanned aircraft can provide filming of incidents on real time

The Brazilian Federal Police announced that beginning December an unmanned “spy” aircraft will over-fly the shanty towns of Rio do Janeiro at a height of 7.000 metres, well out of range from the drug gangs and trades that last week shot down a police helicopter killing three men on board.

Three aircraft with radars and high definition video cameras are scheduled to patrol from the air over the cities of Rio do Janeiro and Sao Paulo, as well as extensive areas of the border in the framework of the full fledged combat against the drugs trade and organized crime, indicated on Monday Alessandro Moretti, a high ranking officer from the Federal Police stationed in Rio.

Moretti said there was no chance the unmanned aircraft could be shot down by the drug dealers, as happened last month.

“Only with a war weapon such as land-air missile or cannon, could the traffickers shoot down the aircraft” said Moretti.

The three aircraft which will begin operating next month are manufactured by Israel’s IAI defence industries complex.

During the recent visit of Israeli president Shimon Peres, Brazil signed a contract for the purchase of 15 of these drones at a cost of 200 million US dollars.

The Brazilian government and Rio do Janeiro authorities are running against time to ensure that the “wonderful city”, which will host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016, can be cleaned from organized crime and the drug cartels operating mostly in the favelas, where millions of Brazilians live, next to the rich and famous.