Rio de Janeiro Brazil: Youth Gang Mugging, Robbing Tourists

dailymail.co.uk reported the businessman who recorded the images, speaking on condition of anonymity and with his voice disguised electronically, told the TV station: ‘I always tell anyone I see in the street with a necklace or a mobile phone to put them away.

‘It’s a real shame for the tourists. I see a lot of people being mugged.’

Rio’s crime problems have received more attention since the award of the 2016 Olympics. It is due to host the event from August 5 to 21.

Rio’s mayor Eduardo da Costa Paes has admitted there are ‘big issues’ facing the city in securing the Games from violence.

Criminal violence is said to have started creeping back up after a reduction between 2009 and 2014.

The country’s shrinking economy and a political crisis – which has left president Dilma Rousseff facing impeachment over alleged budget mismanagement – has threatened attempts to pacify slums like Rocinha near England’s World Cup hotel.

Police in Rio reacted to the footage by promising to reinforce patrols.

Police chiefs said they would be sending 30 more uniformed and plain-clothes officers into the area but defended themselves by revealing nearly 70 child offenders had been caught red-handed in the past three months. Read Article