Press Interpreter

03/15/06 -- After an operation in the Rocinha [neighborhood], the arms were located in a track on the "Road of the Canoes" -- It took twelve days of searches in 16 slums of the city, more than five clashes with traffickers and four blockades of access roads to Rio [de Janeiro]. Early last night, after more than nine hours of occupation in Rocinha, in São Conrado, the Military Command of the East (CML)* announced the recovery of the ten rifles and 9mm pistol stolen on March 3 from the Central Establishment of Transports (ECT)** of the Army, in São Cristóvão. According to military officials, the weapons were found with the help of the interception of anonymous reports by the sector of intelligence of corporations.

The head of the Greater-State [sic] of the CML, General Hélio Chagas de Macedo Jr., confirmed at the end of the night that the armament was in a track in the region known as Esqueleto, near Road of the Canoes***, in São Conrado.

"The operations are going to continue, now in a more restricted form and focusing on capturing those involved in the theft," said general Macedo.

Besides the rifles and the pistol, four loaders were also found. The public relations authority of the CML, Colonel Fernando Lemos, couldn't say whether the ten rifles were all stolen with the loaders.

The movements of the troops in Rocinha indicated that the armament could have been in a wooded area in the high part of the slum. Around 2:00 p.m., a platoon of the Pára-Quedista Brigade, which was positioned in the Route 1 section, around the top of the hill, proceeded into a nearby thicket. In the action, the Pára-Quedista exchanged fire with a group of traffickers hidden in the woods. Five hours later, with the soldiers already leaving Rocinha, the unitary commander, Colonel Carlos Barcelos, announced the discovery of the armament.

Rocinha was the only slum occupied by the Army in the South Zone. At least 800 men took part in the mission, in spite of the CML's report that there were 200 soldiers in the slum. The Rocinha highway, the convoy of tanks, trucks and jeeps terrified whoever passed through the region. The movement of troops stopped transit on Jardim Botânico [Botanic Garden] Road adn Pacheco Leão Road. After being surrounded, the community was occupied within 20 minutes.

[Remaining Text Untranslated]

* Comando Militar do Leste in Portuguese

** Estabelecimento Central de Transportes in Portuguese

***Estrada das Canoas in Portuguese

[This article is from Jornal do Brasil, a major Brazilian daily based in Rio de Janeiro]

--Translated by Chris Drake

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