Brazilian Drugs Lords Show More Integrity Than Central Bankers, Refuse To Sell Crack To Their People

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Brazilian Drugs Lords Show More Integrity Than Central Bankers, Refuse To Sell Crack To Their People

July 31st, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Via Al Jazeera: Brazil Drug Dealers: “Stop Buying Crack”

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Under a footbridge, when night falls and it’s pitch black, the only light that emanates is from flames given off from a few cigarette lighters and a couple candles. On the dirt floor trash is scattered about, including condoms and plastic water cups with holes punched in the bottom to be used as rudimentary pipes; the pungent stench of urine hangs in the air.

It’s filthy, but nobody seems to notice. The couple dozen people here on the ground are all too fixated on taking their next hit of crack cocaine.

This scene plays out inside the Antares slum – or favela as it is known in Brazil – in the industrial outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There are men, women, and even children, all using.

Paulo, a middle-aged man and father of three young children, is hunched over and inhaling a hit.

“I use crack every day, almost every hour,” he said without hesitation. “This is a drug you fall in love with the first time you use it.”

The Antares favela is under the command of dozens of machine gun wielding young men from a faction of the Comando Vermelho drug gang. It’s generally considered a no-go area for police. A night-time visit inside the drug den in the slum reveals a troubling scene but points to a larger picture of how crack has become a security and public health epidemic in Brazil, spreading to all corners of the country and infiltrating all economic classes.

But since a rock of crack can be purchased for only R$5 (less than $3 USD), the most desperate and downtrodden users tend to congregate by the hundreds in and around Rio’s favelas, where it can be easily purchased.

Unprecedented move

That is partially why, in an unprecedented move, some drug traffickers have unilaterally decided to stop selling crack in the favelas they control. In both Mandela and Jacarezinho favelas – combined home to more than 100,000 residents – crack can no longer be purchased. Two drug bosses, who control each favela, gave the orders to halt sales.

A dirt road bordering Mandela favela that previously was known to be one of Rio’s largest concentrations of users (known as “cracolanidias” in Brazil) is where hundreds of users and sellers would congregate day and night.

The road is now clear of any signs of users or sellers.

“I am not going to lie to you, there is a lot of profit to be made on crack,” said Rodrigo, a top trafficker in Mandela who used to manage all the crack operations, told Al Jazeera. He asked that his real name not be used. “But crack also brought destruction in our community as well, so we’re not selling it anymore. Addicts were robbing homes, killing each other for nothing inside the community. We wanted to avoid all that, so we stopped selling it.”

The traffickers in Mandela, like Rodrigo, readily admit they still sell marijuana and powder cocaine and were happy to show it to Al Jazeera. Business was good for those drugs; bags of money sat out on tables at sales points in the slum. But those other drugs, they said, don’t seem to cause the same social problems in the favelas they control.

Crack sales have been halted in just two of Rio’s favelas, but Flavia Pinheiro Froes, a lawyer who represents many drug traffickers, said she expects more drug bosses to join in soon.

…

“Our campaign is not only done in the communities directly with the traffickers that are selling, but also with some of the drug gang leaders that are in jail,” Pinheiro Froes said.“I think convincing the seller could be one of the most efficient ways to combat crack because if there is no supply we will be able to solve the problem of the consumer.”

Pinheiro Froes, whose current and past clients make up a “most wanted” list of Rio’s most notorious drug traffickers, said many traffickers witness the destruction crack wreaks on lives first hand as they have family and friends who are addicted.

She said she is hoping for even commitments for the gangs to stop buying from the big suppliers, some of whom are in neighbouring countries.

…

Future of crack sales

Back at Antares favela, crack addicts are everywhere, scurrying through the darkness to find a corner to smoke, while crack sales continue unabated.

One trafficker, “Joao”, said they are prepared to stop sales if told to. “If our boss tells us to stop selling crack, we will,” Joao said.