Missing Rio boys tortured and killed for stealing bird, say police

Members of Red Command drug faction accused of crime that caused outcry across Brazil

Nearly a year after three young boys vanished near their homes in Rio de Janeiro's rundown northern sprawl, police have accused members of the city's largest drug faction of murdering the children in reprisal for stealing an ornamental bird.

The boys - aged nine, 11 and 12 - disappeared on the afternoon of 27 December 2020 after leaving their homes in the Morro do Castelar favela to play. They were last seen in eerie security footage showing them walking towards a local street market.