Brazilian local gov't asks federal help to intervene in prison riot

RIO DE JANEIRO. The government of Rio Grande do Norte state, in northeastern Brazil, asked on the National Security Force Monday, to help regain control of the Alcacuz State Penitentiary, where 26 inmates were killed in a riot during the weekend.

According to news site G1, the state government requested the Justice Ministry to dispatch a National Security Force team to assist local police in controlling the situation in the prison in the city of Nisa Floresta. The government also requested a helicopter to support security missions. The local government already has National Security Force troops, but they are not stationed in the prison. The prison riot started on Saturday and lasted until Sunday.

Reports say it was the result of a war between two drug gangs, Primer Comando de la Capital (PCC) and Crime Syndicate. State Public Security Secretary Wallber Virgolino said all the 26 inmates killed were members of the Crime Syndicate gang. Several of them were beheaded. The leaders of the riot were transferred to another prison.

The riot was the most violent one that has ever occurred in Rio Grande do Norte state. It was the latest of a series of prison riots that have hit Brazil since the beginning of the year, killing over 100 men.The government says the riots are not related to the previous ones, although several rioters are from the PCC, a drug gang based in Sao Paulo which has in recent years expanded its operations to all over Brazil.