THE GANGS OF RIO

Photograph: João Pina

Vale a pena descobrir o trabalho do fotógrafo português João Pina em seu site oficial , com destaque para as fotos de Roberto Saviano, o escritor italiano de 29 anos que vive escondido com proteção policial desde a publicação do livro “Gomorra”, onde expõe as mazelas da máfia napolitana. A edição online do jornal The Observer publicou recentemente uma reportagem fotográfica de João Pina, intitulada The gangs of Rio, são imagens que registram a realidade cruel do tráfico de droga e da corrupção nas favelas cariocas.

"Vesguinho" (centre) and his gang control the drug trafficking in Parque Royal a slum in Ilha do Governador, Rio de Janeiro. The gang is part of Terceiro Comando, a major gang faction in the city

The Dende slum, in northern Rio de Janeiro, where an estimated 45,000 people live in poverty with little state support

A woman looks at the wall outside her house riddled with bullet holes during a police operation. About 400 officers invaded the Favela da Grota in Complexo do Alemao, confiscating assault riffles, machine guns, grenades, cocaine, cannabis and crack

A BOPE unit, the elite special forces of the military police stands guard during the operation in Favela da Grota. BOPE is a small group of well-trained officers infamous for their brutality. They are renowned for not carrying handcuffs

A military police armoured car takes position inside the Favela da Grota in Complexo do Alemao, during an operation involving around 400 officers

A BOPE officer takes a defensive position to cover his unit as they pull out of the Grota slum

Weapons confiscated during the operation

An armed drug trafficker plays table football in the Dende slum

An evangelical preaching session to cleanse a young woman of her sins in the Dende slum

Pastor Sidney, a 35-year-old former paratrooper, tries to purge a drug trafficker of his demons

A civilian police operation in the Mangueira slum to seize drugs and try to arrest the main traffickers. About 1.5 tonnes of marijuana were seized along with minor quantities of crack and cocaine

A civilian police officer photographs João Pina Paulo da Costa, a suspected drug trafficker arrested during an operation in the Acari slum

A woman and her six-year-old son are freed by police after being held hostage in their own home by suspected drug trafickers in Acari

Mourners at the funeral of a murdered policeman

Edson Vaz do Nascimento's widow stands over his coffin. Edson, 36, an innocent motorcycle courier, was killed by the military police with a single shot to the head

Edson Vaz do Nascimento's coffin is carried to his grave

An overview of the São João Baptista cemetery in Botafogo. About 90% of murder cases in Rio de Janeiro go unresolved

The body of a man believed to have been shot by the "Comando Vermelho" gang in Santa Cruz on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro

Tourists photograph Rio de Janeiro from Sugarloaf mountain, one of the city's most popular tourist spots, famed for its views. Tourists and middle-class locals are the biggest drug consumers (mostly marijuana and cocaine) in the city

Fonte foto: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2009/nov/29/brazil-drugs-trade