Dozen Armed Men Break in Rio Hospital to Rescue Wounded Gang Member

More than a dozen men armed with rifles burst into a hospital in suburban Rio de Janeiro on Monday to rescue a wounded gang boss in police custody, Brazilian authorities said.

The incident sparked panic at Azevedo Lima State Hospital in Niteroi, where Jhony Luis da Silva, alias “Bebezao,” was taken Oct. 16 after being shot in the leg during a gun battle with police.

The intruders entered the hospital, disarmed the two police officers guarding Bebezao and whisked him away, though not before robbing patients and families who happened to be in the waiting room.

On the way to the hospital, the gunmen killed a plainclothes cop to obtain one of the vehicles they use to escape after rescuing Bebezao, reputed to be the head of the gang that dominates the drug trade in the Rio shantytown of Morro da Pedreira.

Bebezao was apprehended when police interrupted him and several accomplices in the act of hijacking three cargo trucks.

The ensuing shootout left three of the assailants dead and Bebezao wounded.

Despite a high-profile campaign to “pacify” the shantytowns, known as “favelas,” Rio de Janeiro remains one of Brazil’s most dangerous cities.

Published in Latino Daily News