Federal Police Intelligence Get Authorized to Enter Ceará

By Marcelo Brandão, Agência Brasil

By Marcelo Brandão

Agência Brasil

Image Attribute: AFP/Getty Images

Brazilian President Michel Temer authorized this Tuesday (Jan. 30) sending a task force from the Federal Police intelligence team to the northeastern state of Ceará.  

The team will assist the military and civil police officers in the state, which dealt with violent incidents recently. The measure was taken after a meeting between the governor of Ceará, Camilo Santana, and Temer at Palácio do Planalto (Brazil's Presidential Palace).  

"The president was very solicitous.  He consented to immediately send a task force to Ceará, with a specialized team from the Federal Police and evaluate other requests as soon as possible" said the governor in a video released by his press office.  

Among other requests, the governor asked for financial support so that Ceará state can invest in security actions.  The president of Brazil's Congress, senator Eunício Oliveira, was also in the meeting.  He said that "this is no time for disputes and discussions."

In statements to the press earlier this week, Santana said that the entry of weapons and drugs in the state is an organized crime activity, which must be fought by the federal government. The speech was not well received at the Presidential Palace.  

Biggest Massacre in the State  

The security crisis in the state deepened in the first hours of Saturday (Jan. 27) , when 14 people were killed in a party in the outskirts of Fortaleza, city capital of the state. Armed men stepped out of a vehicle and sprayed the partygoers with bullets, according to the Ceara state Public Security Secretariat. It was the biggest massacre ever reported in Ceará.  

This Monday (Jan. 29), ten inmates were killed at the Itapajé Public Jail, 130 kilometers (80 miles) distant from Fortaleza.  According to the Secretariat of Justice of Ceará, the killings happened during a fight between rival gangs - Comando Vermelho (or "Red Command") and Guardiões do Estado (or "State Guardians").

Three other riots had already taken place this year before the dispute in Itapajé took place, leaving 9 dead and 14 wounded at a penitentiary in Aparecida de Goiânia, Goiás, which is in the metropolitan area of state capital Goiânia. On top of the riot, 99 inmates also managed to escape from the prison.

Translated by Mariana Branco  | Edited by: Nádia Franco/Mariana Branco

(c) 2018  Empresa Brasil de Comunicação S/A - EBC