<p><br /> Police in Rio have given drug traffickers holed up in a hillside slum an ultimatum to turn themselves in.<br /> </p><p><br /> More than 1,000 police and army officers have surrounded the shantytown of Alemao as part of an unusually determined effort by security forces to take control of territory long controlled by drug gangs.<br /> </p><p><br /> Authorities have cast the battle as part of a larger effort to pacify the city ahead of the Olympic Games in 2016. Drug gangs have fought back by setting fire to around 100 cars and buses and fired on police with automatic weapons. At least 46 people have died so far in the violence.<br /> </p><p><br /> The head of the military police in Rio told reporters on Saturday that the drug traffickers hiding inside the Alemao slum did not stand a chance. But he did not give a date or time for the ultimatum.<br /> </p><p><br /> The suspected traffickers fled to Alemao from the Vila Cruzeiro slum after police invaded it earlier this week and took control. Local media say officers have since found guns and grenades there and a machine to count bank notes.<br /> </p><p><br /> Two men were arrested after trying to flee Alemao on Saturday. Police said they were believed to be gang leaders involved in the shooting down of a police helicopter earlier this year.<br /> </p><p><br /> Police are now searching vehicles and pedestrians entering Alemao. Gang members inside the slum have opened fire on the security forces to try to ward them off, injuring ten people on Friday and Saturday, including a Reuters photographer.<br /> </p><p><br /> The military police said an area had been designated within the slum or favela as they are locally known, where the gang members could surrender with their arms placed on their head, and said it was their only option to avoid an offensive.<br /> </p>
