Brazil’s gangs: Militias expanding control in Rio de Janeiro

City faces new threat by militia groups which are accused of racketeering and threatening civilian safety.

In Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro, mafia-like organisations known as “the militia” have become even more feared for their violence and control of the city than its notorious drug gangs.

They reportedly comprised former policemen, firefighters and soldiers who started out wanting to protect their neighbourhoods but amassed enormous influence along the way – and have now gone rogue.

Al Jazeera’s John Holman reports from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.