Vigilantes take over Rio shanty towns

The sprawling favelas of Rio de Janeiro are home to more than a million of Brazil's poorest citizens.

Many of these shanty towns are controlled by drug gangs, and there are regular and violent confrontations with the police.

But a growing number of these neighbourhoods are being taken over by what are known here as militias, complicating an already difficult security situation.

These are vigilante-style operations run by off-duty or former police officers and firemen, who throw out the drug gangs and claim to offer protection to the community, but at a price.