Heavily armed police launch bid to reclaim control of Rio de Janeiro favela

State governor says surprise operation against drug gangs and mafia groups is start of transformational' occupation

Hundreds of heavily armed police have stormed one of Rio's largest favelas at the start of what authorities claimed was a transformational" attempt to wrest back control from the drug gangs and paramilitary mafias which dominate huge swaths of the Brazilian city.

The operation began at daybreak on Wednesday as security forces in camouflage gear and armoured personnel carriers swept into Jacarezinho, a bustling redbrick community that has been a stronghold of the Red Command drug faction since the 1980s.