Police Peacefully Take Over Rio de Janeiro Slums as Shantytown Clean-up Campaign Continues

A boy plays with a kite as Police officers from the Special Operations Battalion, BOPE, patrol during an operation to take control of the Sao Carlos Slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Rio de Janeiro authorities say police faced no resistance in an operation to take control of nine slums commanded by drug traffickers. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) (AP2011)

Brazil is continuing its shock and awe campaign to clean up Rio's slums for good, but this time, there was no resistance.

Rio de Janeiro authorities say the latest operation to take control of nine slums commanded by drug traffickers happened peacefully.

Backed by dozens of armored vehicles, a helicopter and nearly 1,000 men on the ground, police invaded the downtown slums and in less than two hours easily took control without any exchange of gunshots.

Past operations have seen more heavy gun fire and attacks on bulletproof vehicles by gangs that also attempt to stymie the operation by burning tires to block armored vehicles and personnel from entering their neighborhoods.

Police spokesman Henrique de Lima Castro Saraiva said police were conducting thorough searches in the slums to look for drug traffickers, weapons and drugs.

The shantytowns were taken over early Sunday so authorities can begin installing police units that are part of programs to pacify the city's poor communities.

The large scale sweeps in Río De Janerio really started to gain momentum in November of 2010 when they seized a Slum called the Alemao. A complex of about a dozen slums known as the “Heart of Evil.” For decades, it had been the key territory of Río's biggest drug gang, the Red Command.

The shantytown cleanups are meant to prove to the world that Brazil is a safe place to visit as it gets ready to showcase their growing emergence as a global force in the World Cup Finals in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.