Brazilian Police Say
Massacre Of 15 Carried
Out By Drug Dealers
RIO DE JANEIRO -
Brazilian police said
Tuesday that the
massacre of 15 people in
southern Parana state
was carried out by drug
dealers.
The massacre took place
Monday in a shantytown
in Guaira town, near the
Paraguayan border. Three
minors were among the
dead.
According to the police,
there were at least five
killers who arrived at
the shantytown by boat,
crossing the Itaipu Lake
and the border.
Police said the killers
were Brazilian drug
dealers operating in the
neighboring country.
A drug boss known as "Polaco"
was apparently among the
dead, along with two
women and several boys.
According to Parana
State Security Secretary
Fernando Delazari, the
motive for the massacre
was a 4,000 reais
(approximately 2,526U.S.
dollars) debt which
Polaco's group had with
the killers.
The massacre might also
be motivated by revenge,
as Polaco's group is
said to have tried to
kill the dealers'
leader, police said.
Delazari said that the
killers have already
been identified, but
their names could not be
disclosed so far.
A total of 200 Brazilian
policemen were involved
in the investigations,
and Brazilian police had
requested support from
the Paraguayan
authorities as the
killers were believed to
have crossed the border.
Drug and weapons dealing
have been rampant in the
Guaira area in the last
two years since the
Brazilian government
toughened inspections in
the Amizade Bridge which
separates the country
from Paraguay.
In the last two months,
Brazil's federal police
seized a ton of
marijuana, 14 pistols
and five machine guns in
the area.
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