Corruption or revenge?
A push to fight corruption in Rio's notorious police force is getting complicated, fast. Rio de Janeiro’s Civil Police special operations officers blocked the entrance to the state's organized crime enforcement division yesterday afternoon, claiming the unit was itself under suspicion. The Civil Police chief said they were pursuing allegations the organized crime unit had extorted various businesses — but most news reports were quick to point out the chief, Allan Turnowski, has faced questions about corruption allegations against his former staff. The newspaper O Globo notes that Turnowski's move came two days after he was forced to explain to Federal Police, essentially Brazil’s FBI, why his ex-right-hand man, Carlos Antônio Luiz Oliveira, had been arrested on charges of selling confiscated arms to drug dealers. The organized crime unit played a key role in the corruption investigation, called operation Guillotine, which has put at least 30 active police officers in prison since Friday.
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