Prisoners hold coke orgy in jail
PRISONERS prepare hundreds of lines of cocaine as they embark on a drugs binge.
Lags in a Brazilian jail queued patiently to snort from a small table with more than 100 lines of the class-A drug arranged on it.
More than a dozen jailbirds were filmed openly taking the drugs in a packed corridor.
A small handful of men appeared to be in control of the situation, making sure the noisy prisoners crowding round the table did not knock it over or treat themselves to more than their fair share.
One of the inmates laughed as he posed for a photo after his turn. The shocking images were filmed in the main prison in the southern city of Porto Alegre.
Police confirmed yesterday that they were investigating the drugs orgy, said to have taken place during a party organised by one of the gangs that control the jail.
Thirteen men are filmed snorting cocaine from the table during the 90-second video.
Military police, prison bosses and a regional drug squad have launched separate investigations. Regional drugs squad police chief Mario Souza confirmed: “We are investigating from the perspective of drugs trafficking.
“We are going to look into questions like when the video was taken as well as confirming the place it was taken in and investigating the context.”
Cezar Schirmer, Public Security Minister for the state of Rio Grande do Sul which Porto Alegre is part of, branded the footage “unacceptable, provocative and nasty”.
More than 120 people died in a string of prison riots last year sparked by a nationwide struggle between rival drugs gangs – and authorities have warned of more violence ahead.
Brazil has battled drugs gangs for years, with the problem getting so out of hand that last year campaigners called for a legalisation of banned substances.
The UK Government advises caution when travelling to Brazil, warning that “armed clashes and shootouts between police and gangs are a regular and unpredictable occurrence” in some areas.