Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Smooth Criminal: Michael Jackson statue given rifle by Rio narcos

-

Rio de Janeiro drug gangsters gave a famous statue of Michael Jackson a scary new prop in a photo circulating on Brazilian social media: an assault rifle.

Police said Monday that the picture, in which the military style semi-automatic is slung around the King of Pop's neck, was taken "by criminals."

"The suspects have been identified and an operation is underway to arrest them," police said in a statement.

The picture, taken in daylight, showed off drug traffickers' brazen control over many areas of Rio's favelas at a time of steadily growing violent crime.

The statue was inaugurated in 2010 in Santa Marta favela, a year after Jackson's death.

With arms outstretched and fists clenched, the statue commemorated Jackson's 1996 filming of the video "They Don't Care About Us" in Santa Marta. At the time, the favela was a violent slum but by 2010 it had become a symbol of a new police policy known as "pacification" that ousted traffickers and brought in tourists.

In the wake of the 2016 Rio Olympics, control over the favelas has again begun to slip away from the police and into the hands of well-armed drug gangs.

The photo can be seen on Globo newspaper's online site: here

Rio de Janeiro drug gangsters gave a famous statue of Michael Jackson a scary new prop in a photo circulating on Brazilian social media: an assault rifle.

Police said Monday that the picture, in which the military style semi-automatic is slung around the King of Pop’s neck, was taken “by criminals.”

“The suspects have been identified and an operation is underway to arrest them,” police said in a statement.

The picture, taken in daylight, showed off drug traffickers’ brazen control over many areas of Rio’s favelas at a time of steadily growing violent crime.

The statue was inaugurated in 2010 in Santa Marta favela, a year after Jackson’s death.

With arms outstretched and fists clenched, the statue commemorated Jackson’s 1996 filming of the video “They Don’t Care About Us” in Santa Marta. At the time, the favela was a violent slum but by 2010 it had become a symbol of a new police policy known as “pacification” that ousted traffickers and brought in tourists.

In the wake of the 2016 Rio Olympics, control over the favelas has again begun to slip away from the police and into the hands of well-armed drug gangs.

The photo can be seen on Globo newspaper’s online site: here

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

Business

Catherine Berthet (L) and Naoise Ryan (R) join relatives of people killed in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 Boeing 737 MAX crash at a...

Business

Turkey's central bank holds its key interest rate steady at 50 percent - Copyright AFP MARCO BERTORELLOFulya OZERKANTurkey’s central bank held its key interest...

World

A vendor sweats as he pulls a vegetable cart at Bangkok's biggest fresh market, with people sweltering through heatwaves across Southeast and South Asia...

Tech & Science

Microsoft and Google drubbed quarterly earnings expectations.