Gun-toting police arrested a group of suspected drug traffickers while they were sunbathing on a beach.
Footage shows two plainclothes officers approaching three men on beach chairs with their handguns drawn.
They were then joined by two uniformed colleagues, who forced the suspects to their knees on the sand.
READ MORE: Couple and son, four, killed in New Year’s Eve trip horror crash
The men were handcuffed behind their backs in full view of other beachgoers on Sunday (28 Dec) afternoon.
All three were taken from São Conrado Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to a police station for identification.
Two were released, while the third – fugitive drug trafficker Daniel Rodrigues dos Santos, known as “Bozo” – remained in custody.
Police say Bozo is the leader of the Comando Vermelho in Aparecida de Goiânia, some 800 miles away, where he is wanted by the courts.
The Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, is one of Brazil’s oldest and most powerful criminal organisations, as reported by Need To Know.
Founded in Rio’s prisons in the 1970s, it is involved in large-scale drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and violent turf wars with rival factions such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital.
Bozo is believed to have been hiding for nearly a year in Rio’s Parque União favela, where the Comando Vermelho is also active.
He reportedly escaped during an operation on 28 October that left 122 dead in the Alemão and Penha slum complexes.
He has a lengthy criminal record, including four convictions for drug trafficking, and one each for burglary, fraud, handling stolen goods, failing to comply with police orders, resisting arrest, and abusive behaviour.
READ MORE: Mum-of-two influencer dies in liposuction tragedy
