RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil, (Reuters):

Brazilian federal agents arrested 75 state police troopers yesterday for links with organised crime in Rio de Janeiro state's high-profile bid to get rid of corrupt cops.

A special federal police unit from the capital, Brasilia, and other cities arrived in Rio to make the arrests jointly with the state police internal investi-gations department.

In the early hours yesterday, they raided a shantytown on the outskirts of Rio, where some of the officers accused of involve-ment in drug and arms trafficking lived. Many others were arrested at their police stations.

Symbolic value

A federal police spokesman in Rio de Janeiro said 320 federal agents took part in the operation, which led to the largest number of arrests of police officers in Rio state in one day.

"We have to applaud this operation. It has a great symbolic value. By nabbing so many, police send a message to the force that they are being serious," said Julita Lemgruber, director of the Center for Security and Citizenship Studies at Rio de Janeiro's Candido Mendes University.

"We hope they don't stop here. We know that all kinds of organised crime blossom because they have some sort of police protection. It's high time to reduce police involvement with drugs and arms trafficking, with car robberies and cargo theft."