Police investigate CV member for explosion at school in Belford Roxo (RJ)

The Civil Police are investigating a member of the CV (Comando Vermelho) in connection with the homemade bomb that exploded at a school in Belford Roxo, in Rio de Janeiro, and left ten students injured. The man, identified as the leader of drug trafficking in the region, and two other members of the organization were arrested this Friday (22).

The men's arrest occurred during a stage of Operation Containment, which targets the CV's activities in the Castelar community and was initiated by civil police officers from the DRE-BF (Drug Repression Police Station of Baixada Fluminense), with the support of the DRFA-BF (Robbery and Car Stolen Police Station of Baixada Fluminense).

According to PCERJ (Civil Police of the state of Rio de Janeiro), the agents identified the structure of the faction's operations in the community and carried out a strategic offensive there.

During the action, the police located the criminal, who is identified as the "front" of drug trafficking and a trusted man of the CV leadership in the region, and who was inspecting the community's "mouths of tobacco" at the time of the arrest.

The suspect, according to the DRE-BF, could have been involved in the manufacture of the explosive device that detonated on May 8th inside the Ciep 388 Lasar Segall school, in Areia Branca, Belford Roxo.

In addition to him, two other members of the faction were captured and a large quantity of drugs ready for sale were seized, such as marijuana, cocaine, crack and loló.

Also according to information from PCERJ, the objective of the operation is to dismantle the financial, logistical and operational structure of the faction, in addition to removing criminals operating in the region from circulation. To date, the operation has arrested 345 people and neutralized another 137 in clashes. Around 477 weapons were seized, including 190 rifles, and more than 51 thousand ammunition.

Explosion at school in Baixada Fluminense leaves ten students injured | LIVE CNN

Remember the explosion in Belford Roxo
The explosion in the courtyard of the Ciep 388 Lasar Segall school, in Areia Branca, Belford Roxo (RJ), left ten students injured on Friday morning, May 8. The CBMERJ (Military Fire Department of the State of Rio de Janeiro) was called to the incident on Porto Sobrinho Street at 8:15 am.

Ten students suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital - Cléber Rodrigues
After the explosion, ten students were injured without serious injuries. The victims, aged between 13 and 17, were taken to Belford Roxo Municipal Hospital.

According to Belford Roxo City Hall, the young people were treated at the General Emergency Hospital (Municipal Hospital) and all had minor injuries. Fire Department teams were mobilized to respond to the incident with the support of SAMU.

According to the students' report, the explosive device was homemade and was inside a PVC pipe when it was found by a student in the courtyard. Out of curiosity, he would have taken the object to show his other colleagues. As they were unable to identify the object, it was thrown to the ground, causing the explosion.

Luciana Magalhães, teacher and deputy secretary for administrative management, told CNN Brasil that the school has a camera monitoring system, which will be analyzed to investigate the cause of the explosion. The system, however, does not work at night.

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The teacher also added that the engineering team was present at the site and no damage was found to the school's structure. Through a post on social media, the school reported that all students were released at 8:30 am.

In a statement, Seeduc (Secretariat of State for Education) stated that the school unit management and Seeduc teams provide support to students, families and school professionals.

Classes were suspended at the unit to assess the school's safety conditions, and the Guardianship Council was also contacted. The secretariat stated that it is following the case with the competent authorities and fully cooperates with the investigation of the circumstances of what happened.

*Under supervision of Manuella Dal Mas

Source: CNN