Explosive Drones Transform Rio's Gang Warfare

Overview

• Police-held video and community footage show small commercial drones dropping improvised explosives into streets and at homes, injuring civilians and damaging property.
• This week police tracked a drone to a rental unit in Recreio dos Bandeirantes and arrested two men accused of operating the devices used in recent attacks.
• Forensics identify the weapons as PVC 'bombas tubo' filled with gunpowder, screws and glass shards, which police say are launched from cheap drones and cause shrapnel injuries.
• Criminal groups use drones for surveillance and to guide ground attacks while also adopting detectors, directional jammers and street coverings to hide launches and block police monitoring.
• Aviation and security agencies have opened a specialized police division and pledged federal drones and antidrone gear, but communities remain at risk and public-space use has fallen as attacks continue.