RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- At least eight suspected drug traffickers were killed on Tuesday as police carried out two operations in Rio de Janeiro, authorities announced.
The police revealed that five died in the central favela (shantytown) of Sao Carlos and three in the western favela of Cidade de Deus.
In Sao Carlos, agents from the police elite force, BOPE, arrived to stop a shootout between two rival gangs seeking to control the drug trade.
The drug traffickers opened fire on police, who returned fire. Five of the gang members were injured but later died in hospital.
During the operation, the police seized firearms, grenades, communications radio and quantities of marijuana and cocaine.
In Cidade de Deus, three more suspects died in a shootout with police, when an operation entered the favela to carry out 61 arrest warrants.
Around 200 police, backed up by armored vehicles, carried out the operation.
Over 7,500 students from schools in Cidade de Deus stayed at home after the institutions were closed.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's main tourism hub, is undergoing a wave of violence in 2017 that has seen over 4,000 murders, including the killing of 120 police officers.
Two months ago, the federal government dispatched 10,000 soldiers and police officers there to stop the violence.
