Brazil police arrest mayor on drug trafficking charges

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian police say they have arrested the mayor of a city in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro for alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Carlos Moraes Costa, the mayor of Japeri, was taken into custody on Friday.

Police said he took advantage of his office to defend the interests of a drug trafficking gang operating out of the city’s Guandu complex of slums.

City councilman Claudio Jose da Silva was also arrested, and police say council president Wesley George de Oliveira is suspected of involvement and is at large.