Rio de Janeiro police said they arrested a former chief drug dealer of an infamous slum located five miles from the iconic Maracana stadium, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
A police press release said Everton Mesquita was arrested Saturday inside the Morro dos Macacos slum, according to the Inquirer. The shantytown is southwest of the stadium, where some of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games events will be held.
The Inquirer said drug gangs in Morro dos Macacos shot down a police helicopter in October 2009, two weeks after the International Olympic Committee awarded the games to Rio. Three police officersz were killed, and 21 people also died in a related shootout between gangs and the police.
The police news release says Mesquita had fled the slum but was caught when he returned for his niece's birthday party, the Inquirer also said.
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