Tracer bullets have returned to the scene in armed clashes between rival groups of bandits and even during police operations. This Friday, residents of Complexo do Alemão, in the North Zone of Rio, caught the moment when illuminated projectiles cut through the air during a police operation. Last Wednesday, they were seen in Vila Isabel, also in the North Zone, during a confrontation in Morro dos Macacos. Before that, residents of Morro do Fubá, between the neighborhoods of Campinho and Cascadura, still in the North Zone, and near Favela César Maia, in Vargem Pequena, in the West Zone.
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Although, to laymen, it may seem that this type of ammunition has a different effect than a common one, according to security and weapons specialist Rildo Anjos they are practically the same:
— What makes a ammunition tracer is the difference in color in the front part of the projectile, in the part that is thrown. What comes out is a projectile with a pyrotechnic charge, which is ignited by the heat. Go out and make lines of light. The sole purpose is to give whoever is using the weapon the location where it arrived.
Residents report shootings with tracer bullets in the West Zone
When used by security forces, tracer bullets are placed in a five-to-one ratio: for every five projectiles without effects, there is one pyrotechnic, explained Rildo. According to the expert, tracer bullets are used in rifles — of different calibers — because the range of shots they fire is up to three kilometers.
— Requires almost precise identification of where (the projectile) is falling. Short weapons don’t need that — he said.
Rildo also clarified that criminals use tracer ammunition only for pyrotechnics:
— It’s a demonstration of power, a demarcation of territory.
