Wave of robberies adds to drama for flood victims in southern Brazil

A wave of looting of homes, shops, businesses and even boats belonging to rescue teams is adding to the misery of victims of the worst-ever flood in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, which had already killed at least 90 people until this Tuesday. , another 137 were missing and nearly 150,000 were left homeless. Until this Tuesday, at least 10 so-called “pirates” carrying out robberies and looting in flooded areas were arrested and one was killed by local police.

Authorities in Rio Grande do Sul have avoided reporting information about the robberies, presumably to avoid further alarming the population, but reports from residents are increasingly coming in, and now the Military Brigade itself, as the state’s public security police are called, is already acknowledging these criminal acts . They occur throughout the state: 367 of the 496 cities were affected by floods, but the highest incidence rates are in the state capital Porto Alegre and in cities in the capital region such as Canoas and San Leopoldo.

Criminals are arriving by boat in the hardest-hit areas, where rising waters have flooded homes and forced residents to flee, taking advantage of the fact that there is no one nearby to steal what they want on the upper floors, where everything is still dry. or even wet objects. Due to this wave of looting, many residents who fled their homes to escape the force of the water with only the clothes on their backs decided to return, staying on the upper floors and even on the rooftops, guarding their belongings.

WMore daring criminals than those who simply rob homes, stores and businesses in the dead of night are attacking, day or night, boats that are helping people stranded or trying to deliver supplies and other donations to those still located in flooded areas. In one of the most brutal cases, which occurred in the city of San Leopoldo, 38 km from Porto Alegre, the criminals pretended to be stranded residents, screamed for help when they saw an approaching boat with volunteers, then threw rescuers into the water and escaped on a watercraft with everything property of the victims and used it to rob other people.

In Canoas, neighboring Porto Alegre, two criminals who used the same tactics, seeking help from a boat that was sailing at night along what used to be an avenue looking for people at risk, ended up injured. In the darkness, the criminals did not notice that there were two police officers on board the vessel and were arrested when the robbery was reported.