Violent Rio

Grieving colleagues attend the funeral of Rio's police special forces (BOPE) Sergeant Wilson Sant'anna, 28, killed the previous day with a single rifle shot to the abdomen in Rio de Janeiro. Life as one of Rio de Janeiro's 38,000 military police officers has never been an easy task, particularly for those whose mission it is to combat the city's three heavily armed drug factions, the Red Command, the Third Command and the Friends of the Friends or "ADA". But a wave of police killings this year has underlined the growing dangers of law enforcement in this seaside tourist capital.(Australfoto/Douglas Engle)

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Grieving colleagues attend the funeral of Rio's police special forces (BOPE) Sergeant Wilson Sant'anna, 28, killed the previous day with a single rifle shot to the abdomen in Rio de Janeiro. Life as one of Rio de Janeiro's 38,000 military police officers has never been an easy task, particularly for those whose mission it is to combat the city's three heavily armed drug factions, the Red Command, the Third Command and the Friends of the Friends or "ADA". But a wave of police killings this year has underlined the growing dangers of law enforcement in this seaside tourist capital.(Australfoto/Douglas Engle)

Rio Brazil drug violence war police BOPE funeral