Thought I would share this story about the police trying to rob my buddy last saturday. He was walking on Miguel Lemos drinking a beer when a guy on the corner handed him a card that advertised a local terma. My buddy liked the girl on the front and asked the guy where the terma was located.

While the guide was giving him directions, the police rolled up on them and snatched the guide up and put him against the wall. My buddy tried to walk away, (figuring this had nothing to do with him) but the police told him to stay put.

They searched the guide and found two small paperbags on him, they claimed that it was drugs (Till this day, my buddy still doesnt know what was in the bags) They grabbed my friend and put him in the backseat along with the guide. He told me that they started smacking the guide around, while they waited for another cruiser to come take him away.

When the second cruiser took the guide to the station, the police proceeded to drive him around, telling him that he was in big trouble for having drugs on him. (The driver spoke excellent english) They played the "good cop/bad cop" role. The "good cop" kept saying that he likes tourists and that he wants to help him out of this situation, the bad cop said "We should just take you to jail where you will spend the next 5 years in prison".

My buddy offered them money, saying "Look, you guys can take everything I have in my wallet" (About 300R) The cops said that wasnt enough money. They noticed that he had an ATM card in his wallet and said, "Lets go to Citibank where you can take out alot more money" They drove him to Blockbuster, parked the car at the corner and told him to go inside and take out the maximum.

My boy was so nervous and scared, that he couldnt get into the bank because he was swiping his card incorrectly. Finally, someone else exited and he walked into the bank. He said a funny thing happened while he was punching in his security code, he started to get mad about the fact that the police were ripping him off. The angried he got, the more he decided to try and set THEM up!!. So he deliberately tried to catch them in the act of robbing him.

He started fumbling with the keyboard as if he was having a problem. He said what he wanted to do was piss off the officers, so they would come into the ATM to see what the problem was. That way he would have them on tape and he could report them later to the tourist police and the American embassy (How could they explain being caught on security tape, removing him from the ATM?)

He said one officer kept walking in front of the door waving his arms like WTF? My buddy just shruged and tried to wave him in the booth to take a look at the machine, but the cop wouldnt come in. My boy said he absolutely refused to leave the bank unless the cop came inside. After a 10 minute standoff, his salvation came thru, in the form of 4 american white girls.

He explained to them what happened and his situation and these girls went right into action. They marched right up the to the cop and were like "Are you trying to rob our friend? What is your name and your badge number? Do you know who my father is? I will report you to the embassy in the morning!!" The officer got so shook up, that he claimed he was only trying ot help my buddy with directions to the bank. The girls were like "So why do you have his ID in your hand?"

The cop went to the door where my friend was standing and tried to hand him back his ID (By this time, he was standing on the sidewalk infront of Blockbuster) He then tried to grab my friend by his upper arm and lead him back to the cruiser. My friend was so pissed, that he grabbed the cop by the collar and threw him up against the wall screaming "Get the fuck off of me" and ran back into the ATM booth.

The four girls ran up to the cop and started cursing him out and screaming that he was in big trouble. My buddy took this opportunity to slip out of the booth and run down Nossa Senhora away from the scene. He ran about halfway down the block before jumping into a cab, he doesnt think the cop even knew he had left, because the girls were such a distraction. He laid down on the floor of the cab and told the cabby to drive him back to his place. He dashed inside his building and didnt come out of his apartment for almost 2 days because he was afraid that the same cops were looking for him.

When my budy finished telling the story, another guy at the table was like "Why didnt you just call the tourist police or tell them to take you to the American Embassy? By Buddy was like "Are you fucking retarded? What was I supposed to do, tell them to sit in the front seat while I call the tourist police to tell them that the federal police are ripping me off?"

Ever since he told me the story, Ive been paranoid ever since about those guides. Everytime I pass thise guys on the street who are handing out cards or trying to sell me the smoking pipes, I panick. I cant tell you how many times I have been offered drugs. "You want smoke? I hgot weed and coke". I usually just yell real loud for them to get the fuck away from me!! I dont wan to take that chance that this will happen to me too.

that is a very scary story, thanks for posting it. i have heard similar stories, but usually it is guys looking for drugs getting set up like that (with the police) not just a guy walking down the street.

The "guide" probably did have drugs on him.

Rule #11: Don't accept anything from anybody on the street in Copa. Even if they're just handing out what looks like an ad, say "não" and keep moving. These set-ups happen. Usually it seems it's the BM, not the PF, that run the scams, but none of the cops in Rio are to be trusted.

Scary story. However, I doubt it was the Federal Police as I believe they are more like our FBI and don't drive cruisers (I'm not sure about this though). Probably the State military police, or some such thing. I must say though the four American white girls part of the story doesn't sound quite right.

WOW! That is a scary story! The guys street smart thinking certainly saved him. Pleased to be living in the safe confines of Bangkok.

Laguy, you might be right, it was his first time in brasil and with all the different uniforms, he easily could have gotten them confused. 4 girls from the states? That was the saving grace, because if it were anyone else confronting the police, it wouldnt have helped. But with 4 white girls, you never know who there parents mught be, so they used caution. (Think of all the mnedia attention that hit Aruba when that 1 blonde girl went missing for ONE NIGHT!!)

Thumper, were you there? I agree with LA Guy, I cannot imagine four gringa tourists taking off after a Rio cop. Not to say it didn't happen, but it borders on the unbelievable.

Sounds like yet another fun day in Copacabana. Anyway, almost certainly NOT the PF, it was the local mounties. And yeah, the gringa part of the story sounds a little fishy, but ya never know.

Bottom line, never forget that you are a huge "target of opportunity" every moment that you are in Copacabana. Think defensively and think on your feet at all times. Or just stay in Ipanema....

guys once they have you what is an appropriate bribe? did not mention wether they were uniformed and i don't believe not many locals speak fluent english.

Catocony, I was in Brasil when this happened. You may not want to believe me and that is fine, but its all true.

If you look back, I was the first one to warn people about the boat cruise and the fact that it was under investigation. Nobody believed me. What happened? 3 months later, the boat was raided.

Then I warned that the boat was still under investigation and that the next time it was raided, they were going to take everybody. Nobody believed me. What happened? 29 Americans were taken into custody.

Tell you what, I will give you a freebie. The VIPS motel is being carefully watched because of all the orgy parties that mongers are throwing. These parties are attracting WAAAAYY too much attention. Eventually, something is going to go down and Americans are going to be taken into custody. Remember where you heard it first.

My main purpose for telling this story, was to warn other mongers about what can happen when you stop to talk to guides and people selling items on the street. If I helped ONE person from being robbed, than I feel my post was worth while.

(Message edited by Thumper on July 05, 2005)

Sweet, they were in uniform. My buddy said the driver appeared to be in charge, because he had all kinds of stripes on his uniform. They were driving a police car at the time that they stopped and picked him up, early evening, around 7:30.

He did offer them about 300R, but they told him to take out the maximum from the ATM, not sure how they knew what the maximum was. I think its 3000R.

As far as this being a lie, what possible motive could I have for coming on here and telling a bullshit story? It did happen, I cant help that these cops were in uniform or that the people who helped him, were American girls, just the way it was.

Thumper,

I'm not saying you're lying, just maybe your buddy is not quite straight with the story. I can envision all of the story except for the gringas and possibly going to the CitiBank on NS Copa - that place is really, really crowded and high profile. Maybe one of the Citi branches over in Ipa, where there are no tourists around. Who knows, most places where mordidas are a problem, they usually pick you up and drive you pretty far out of the action zones if they are making a few gringo-enhanced ATM withdrawals.

Badseed, I can't remember the phrase exactly, but it's along the lines of "share the millionaire". Do you know that one? I don't know if the cops do this one (at least while in uniform), but the idea is they kidnap you for a couple of days and go around to different banks, making max withdrawals on ATM, credit cards, etc. Then they take you around to some stores and max out your daily debit limit - POS, which is usually pretty high. Then they sell the shit you had to buy for them.

One of the things I do before going to Brasil is have my daily maximums reduced. I use Wachovia and they have at least 5-6 different daily levels. A is like US $1,000 cash/ $10,000 POS, E-F is $800 cash / $1,000 POS, with 3-4 levels in between. I crank down to the lowest level so at least if I am hit, they get the minimal amount.

I think the post was entirely worthwhile and I really appreciate you sharing it. Now with hotel vips, the guys have to know that a ton of pornos are shot there monthly, and there are festas there regularly, they don't check id's at the door though obviously, so I guess they will be trying to catch underage women. everyone said they were trying to bust the boat because kenny was making money (a foreigner on their turf, and flaunting it) but in the case of the festas no one is making money, but then again in the case of the pornos, someone is, but none of it is illegal (as the guys are paying the girls directly) and since it is away from public view what is the problem or why would they want to bust it? there are cops at the entrace of vips hotel 24/7 and they talk to the management all the time, so this should be nothing new to them. i am not saying it won't happen, but i just don't understand what the guys are doing wrong and the motivation from a law enforement perspective, other than headlines (7 gringos busted in hotel with 10 gdps).

as far as appropriate bribes, i can add in my personal experiences. Once I was stopped with a gdp on the way to hotel vips drunk (this was probably two years ago or so) and they stopped the car (they call it a blitz, but the spelling might be different). They searched us for drugs and it soon became apparent it was a shakedown for cash. I did not have my passport and they wanted 200 reais or else something else severe might happen (and the gdp suggested they might plant drugs, etc.) I haggled them down to 40 or 50 reais if I remember correctly, paid them and was on my way. Actually, they asked for 200, i gave them 40 or 50, and they didn't argue, but because i was a little drunk i was more confrontational with them than I would have been had I been in the situation of the guy in the above story.

A week ago I was riding with a gdp and she got pulled over, they checked her documents, etc. There was another gdp in the car with us also. The policeman only looked on the driver side and did not see me in the car (he knew there was a man there, but not necessarily a gringo). It turned out that she had not paid her car taxes (this is my loose translation, but she had not paid an amount due to the government which is annual and varies with the value of the car, so I take it it is the equivalent of our car tax in some US states). The cop asked her for 50 reais but she told him she was broke, etc. and finally settled on paying him 28 reais. From other conversations with brasilians, it seems that for minor car infractions with brasilians, they end up giving 20 to 40 reais. Also, a lot of them have friends on the police force who they call and have talk to whoever pulled them over and sometimes that helps (but this gdp did not have the number on her that night).

As far as other shit, if drugs or underage women are involved, I have heard of payoffs as high as 10,000 reais (I personally don't know anyone this has happened to, but I have heard stories from guys regarding their friends, I do know one rich carioca who was busted for something pretty serious but thats it), and I am sure the amounts go higher. So the bottom line is, it depends. But usually when gringos have problems it seems to be three things 1) passport not on them/some other bullshit shake down 2) girls reporting them for non-payment, etc. and 3) drugs/underage women. for things that fall in the first category, I personally would not pay more than 50 reais, but it also depends on the situation, for the second and third, it really really depends on the situation, I don't think you can apply a rule. The second situation is not that severe, but the third type is and do avoid at all costs, it is just not worth it.

Also, as a note, it has not happened to me, but all the girls are afraid that the cops might set you up and turn something simple, or nothing, into a situation like the one above (and I have heard of guys getting set up by the cops, but it is usually when the are looking for drugs and end up buying them from someone who has cop friends, who bust the purchaser and take a trip with him to every atm in town right after the purchase), and that is why it is so important to be diligent always.

Well said, gr8ter!

Badseed or Bs maybe you guys can chime in on this. I have a couple of friends down in Rio who are police officers. And one of them told me that if I have a problem with a gdp and she calls the police, just do one simple thing. Dont open the door to come downstairs, stay in the apartment!

He said if the tourist wouldnt come outside to try and talk the situation out, the police would give up and just leave after a few minutes. the problem is that we answer the phone and then go outside to try and settle the matter, thats where we get fucked!

He said, just like the states where the police cant march into your home and drag you out over a crime that may or may not have happened. The brasilian police arent going to bust down the door to deal with this problem.

Thumper:

Dunno, any time I've ever had a problem with a GP, she's out on the street so fast she doesn't have time to call the police. She's lucky if hse has time to get dressed. But in general, police aren't going to so much as risk breaking a nail to help a GP (or a gringo, for that matter)... unless there is something in it for them!

BS

Is Ipanema that much safer than Copacabana?

I've never had any problems in Copa and my one only bad experience was in Ipanema in broad daylight near the hippy fair on Sunday where they yanked a chain off my neck.

Ipanema is not that much safer, it's just that you are not such a glaring, obvious target. OK, the police presence is a bit better too. As an analogy, think of Manhattan, the difference between the Upper East Side (Ipanema in this analogy) and the SOHO/Village area (Copacabana). If you're a mugger, where would you rather go do your "work"? Both are "target-rich environments" but SOHO/Village has more dumb-ass rich tourists, Upper East Side has more (semi-)street-smart rich locals who are paying the police to do a good job protecting them. It's all a question of percentages

As for the Hippy Fair, that area of Ipanema is the "poor" section of the neighborhood, a hop away from Morro do Pavao/Pavaozinho. Besides, the Hippy Fair is full of tourists, which brings us back to my original hypothesis - don't look like a tourist!

BS

(Message edited by badseed on July 07, 2005)

I've heard a story very similar to what happened to Thumper's friend. Aside from the part about the gringas, the details were nearly exactly the same, down to the tout being slapped around etc. The fellow was a backpacker type, it was maybe a year or so ago. I read it on another board.

One night driving around Rio with a non-pro, after we were waved through a police roadblock coming up from Barra, she commented that in Rio the people are more afraid of the police than they are the criminals.

If there's any teeth to the rumor about VIPS being watched, I would think they are either looking to bust a porno film operation (they would see equipment being carried in), or they are looking for another high-profile sex tourist bust, like the boat. For those of you who weren't here at the time, they made a big deal out of the boat, making it the lead story on the national TV news.

Porn film operations arent illegal, nor have I heard of any being busted--although it may have happened. I have some friends in the industry and have never heard of a problem. ALso, the equipment is in the cars/vans so they wouldnt see it entering VIPS. But the PMs eat lunch there a lot and see the porn guys walking around the parking lot below(there is a shoot at Vips almost every day). To my knowledge they have never messed with any of them.

Damn that is a scary story and appreciated,Thumper.


And all this cop bs about the tours of the ATMs etc are really scary as well. THese guys make the TJ cops look like Saints.

All thes busts and ripoffs and Apt forced breakins
How they heck does anyone survive much less a newbie?


Fortunately I have one ATM with $300 limit but that is alot of money to me. I'm not wealthy like the rest of you guys.

If I recall correctly, the Citibank @ Blockbuster on Av. N.S. de Copacabana has a 24hr security guard inside behind bulletproof glass, what was he doing during this obviously unusal event?

Samething he does everyday, absolutely nothing! My buddy doesnt speak hardly any portugese so he wouldnt have been able to explain anything to this guy. Plus, what could he have done? He is a security guard, you think he would risk his job and life to help a gringo with 2 crooked cops?

When there in June the same thing happened to a guy I met there. He told me he was set up when buying weed (bad move, I know), he was with a garota but she wasn't part of the scam and got taken too. I believe she wasn't part of the scam as she ended up hanging with him all week and is well known among the local expats and guides as a garota to be trusted. They drove him to Citibank where he withdrew all he could for the day R$750 and then was let go.

He didn't stress too much about it and was just happy to get away that cheap.

I hope this doesn't portend an uptick in this sort of behavior.