A growing cocaine trade is spurring killings in Manaus. the capital of Amazonas.
Manaus is no longer just a major tourist attraction because of its tropical locale.
Much of Rio's cocaine is reported to arrive through Tabatinga, a smuggling mecca on the tri-border with Peru and Colombia some 700 miles downriver from Manaus.
Official say the number of murders in Manaus rose by over 9% in 2010.
"Today 70% of the murders in Manaus are linked to drug trafficking – it is either score-settling, or debt-settling, or problems arising from dependence," said police chief Mário César Medeiros Nunes.