SOURE, Brazil Brazil s military police already have a reputation as one of the toughest combat forces on the planet. But the battalion on Marajó Island at the mouth of the Amazon River has taken things to the next level. Here they patrol the streets on buffaloes.
The horned 1,800-pound beasts, which can pursue suspects across soggy mud flats and swim through thick mangrove swamps if necessary, are the only way to hunt down criminals across the vast island during the rainy season, police say.
There are places here you can t reach by motorbike or even boat, but buffalo, now you can always get there by buffalo, said Sgt. Ronaldo Souza, as he saddles up Minotaur, the most formidable of the battalion s seven water buffalo, his silky black hide gleaming under the tropical sun.
In Soure, a quiet town of some 24,000 people on the island s northeastern tip, officers in bulletproof vests and leather boots start the day by riding the elite herd downtown to the main square, their handguns holstered.
The sight alone is enough to keep small-time crooks at bay, say locals who brag that this might be the only place in Brazil where you can wear a watch in public without fear of being robbed.
