Brazilian security forces moved into a slum, or favela, near Rio de Janeiro’s main airport in an effort to drive out the drug gangs that ordinarily rule the streets.  The troops will stay there until after the last game of this year’s World Cup in Brazil.

More than 1,180 armed security officers, backed by armored vehicles and helicopters, moved into the Mare favela over the weekend.  It’s one of the most dangerous drug-trafficking areas in all of Rio.  The takeover took just 15 minutes.  Police say they seized “large quantities of drugs and weapons” that were hidden near the Olympic Village and a public school.

The Mare favela is just a few kilometers from the airport and a potential through route for tens of thousands of football fans flying in and out of the city.  Rio de Janeiro will stage seven World Cup matches including the 13 July final.

The so-called Pacification Units (UPPs) are already in place in 174 Rio favelas where 600,000 people reside.  Many of them complain about the heavy-handed nature of the occupations and police abuses.   Residents of other favelas complain that only the neighborhoods near airports or World Cup venues are getting additional security, and that the drug gangs are merely being pushed back into the more distant shantytowns.