[imagesource: YouTube / Viral Vids]

There’s a phenomenon that Brazilians are calling New “Cangaço”, which refers to the violent banditry that spread across parts of Brazil in the 1920s and 1930s.

These well-planned, large-scale robberies that often use hostages as human shields and include dozens of heavily armed criminals have become more frequent in recent years.

The most recent bank raid occurred in the southern Brazilian city of Araçatuba on Monday, with an armed gang attacking three banks in the centre of the city, the BBC reported.

It was reported that three people were killed, which apparently included one of the suspects.

Officials also seem to think that it was a gang of around 20 who had taken part, taking victims hostage and using them as human shields in various ways to block roads and stop police from responding.

The robbers also burned cars on the streets, planted explosive devices across the city to block roads, and used drones to monitor the movements of the police from the air.

CCTV footage shows people tied to the getaway vehicles:

Meanwhile, in Brazil

Horror scenes in Araçatuba – Robbers tie hostages to their cars to use as human shields.

At dawn, a group of twenty male thugs, divided into ten vehicles, stormed this city in the state of Sao Paulo, attacking three bank branches. pic.twitter.com/8TKuEgi7X6

— Amy Mek (@AmyMek) August 30, 2021

Similar footage from YouTube:

The damage caused was extensive and harrowing to witness:

A woman and a suspect were killed in a stand-off with police outside the city as gang members tried to make their escape, officials said.

A 25-year old cyclist was seriously injured when one of the explosive devices planted by the gang went off as he cycled past.

He was taken to hospital, where both of his feet had to be amputated, local media reported.

Three other men are in hospital with bullet wounds.

Armed men were also spotted marching hostages through the street to dissuade the police from interfering:

#Breaking

10 Hostages used as HUMAN SHIELDS for #Brazilian bank robbers, at least 2 DEAD

Up to 50 gunmen armed with assau|t rif|es & b0mbs strapped 10 hostages to their getaway cars in the southern #Brazil city of Aracatuba Sunday night as they robbed several bank in the city pic.twitter.com/beuKaV6GeE

— ™☢️ ͬ ͤ ᷮ ͦ ͬ ͭ ᷤ (@Kaala_Nag) August 30, 2021

The police were effectively kept out, as the mayor of Araçatuba, Dilador Borges, admitted:

“The police can’t go on the attack, they can’t confront them because there are too many lives on the line,” he told Band TV.

At least 14 bombs might still be somewhere in the city, according to Lieutenant Guedes, so schools were closed and people asked to remain indoors.

The mayor couldn’t confirm at the time whether all the hostages had been set free, but said that the officials had regained control of the city.

There’s no word on how much money was stolen, either, but in this video, around the 20-second mark you can see a man quickly collecting some bills that were scattered on the street:

It is confirmed that only three suspects have been arrested since.

[source:bbc]