Brazil World Cup 2014: criminals fire AK47 rifles to celebrate goal
Brazil criminals on film celebrate goal at 'favela world cup' football match in Rio de Janeiro by firing rifles in air
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By Donna Bowater, Rio de Janeiro
8:19PM BST 14 May 2014
A video showing criminals firing rifles to celebrate a goal at a favela football match in Rio de Janeiro has emerged.
Gang members wearing the Brazil strip can be seen shooting the guns in the Vila Aliança community in the west of the city.
The footage, which lasts less than a minute and was sent to local media, shows a striker for Vila Aliança Clube scoring a penalty, prompting a frenzy of gunshots from watching supporters.
The club is believed to be backed by Rafael Alves, nicknamed Fish, a wanted leader of the Terceiro Comando Puro (Pure Third Command) drug gang.
According to experts, the guns included powerful AK47 rifles.
“They are all restricted military weapons from abroad,” gun specialist Vinícius Cavalcanti told news website Extra.
“It shows the great firepower of these criminals but there’s no novelty in the weapons we see here. It’s no surprise.”
It is customary in Brazil to celebrate goals with fireworks.
But at the match, as part of a World Cup-style competition organised in the favela, at least five guns were used instead.
Gangsters were also captured watching the game with their weapons slung across their shoulders.
The incident happened earlier this month.
Lieutenant Colonel Glaucio Moreira da Silva, former commander of the military police unit responsible for the area, said police had no information about the football tournament involving traffickers.
“We really had no knowledge of this episode,” he said. “We have made arrests and seized guns in Vila Aliança.”
This morning, the Facebook page for the event had beenremoved but it is understood that earlier rounds of the competition had been suspended in March because of shootings in the favela.
