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| Sao Paulo Violence Stops, Death Toll 115 |
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The state of Sao Paulo, Brazil's wealthiest province, began to return to normal on Tuesday after a wave of street and jail violence killed 115 people over five days, state officials said. The state government told local media that it had recorded a total of 251 attacks principally targeting police since Friday. The First Capital Command (PCC), Sao Paulo's main organized crime group, was believed to be behind the violence. The PCC orchestrated the violence after its leaders -- including Williams Herbas Camaacho, the gang boss -- were moved to a maximum security prison on Thursday night, according to authorities. Among the slain were 29 police, three metropolitan Guard officers, eight prison officers, four ordinary citizens and 71 suspected gangsters. Police have arrested 115 people in connection with the riots. The gangsters launched attacks by shooting up police stations and patrol cars. They soon extended their attacks to other targets, setting 80 city buses on fire and robbing 15 banks. The rampage caused panic, forcing the closedown of shops, malls, schools and colleges. The violence began to calm down on Monday night amid rumors that Sao Paulo authorities, who had rejected federal government help to fight the violence, had negotiated a truce with the PCC. Sao Paulo's press said the letup came after authorities agreed to a series of concessions to PCC bosses, but state officials have vehemently denied the report. Godofredo Bittencourt, head of the investigation department of Sao Paulo's military police, told the press: "We do not negotiate with bandits." Meanwhile, the civil police chief, Marco Antonio Desgualdo, said that interrogations had identified the ringleaders behind the attacks, adding that they would face the consequences. "We know their identities and where they live, and they know that we know. That is why the violence has calmed," Desgualdo said. The security ministers of Brazil's 27 states met in the country's capital Brasilia on Tuesday to discuss measures they could take to fight organized crime. (Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2006)
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