Police kill at least 8 suspects in Rio slum raid

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 6 (Reuters) Brazilian police said they shot and killed at least eight suspected drug traffickers in a Rio de Janeiro slum today, the latest in a string of shootouts in the city ahead of the Pan American Games next month.

The clash took place after officers were fired on by gang members guarding their turf, police said. Three officers were wounded in the incident in the Jacarezinho slum in the northern part of Rio.

Police also said they had shot and wounded a local drug kingpin, identified as ''Snoop,'' and had found 6,000 doses of cocaine and three grenades in Jacarezinho.

In a separate incident on Wednesday, an officer was wounded in a gun battle with drug traffickers who have maintained their bases in the Vila Cruzeiro shantytown despite a police occupation that has lasted more than a month.

Seventeen people have been killed and 57 have been wounded in Vila Cruzeiro since the start of May, most of them innocent residents hit by stray bullets during police raids with the support of armored vehicles.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International accuse Rio police of being excessively violent during raids and even resorting to summary executions of suspects.

Rio authorities have said they plan more slum occupations before the July 13 start of the Pan American Games as they try to reduce security concerns at the event in a city with one Latin America's highest murder rates.

More than 1,300 people were murdered in the Rio metropolitan area in the first three months of the year, according to official data. Police killed 303 suspects in the period.

Officials say the violence is confined to slums and that athletes and tourists coming for the games would be safe because 18,000 police are set to patrol the streets.

REUTERS JK BST0235