Wednesday May 7, 11:01 AM

Gang pictures could close tour company

A Brazilian tour company could be stripped of its licence after running tours that included photo opportunities with drug gang leaders.

The company, Private Tours, allegedly set up meetings between traffickers and tourists as part of its tours of Rio d Janiero's slums, the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported.

Rio tourism chief Rubem Medina told Reuters the firm could lose its licence if the story was accurate.

It's not necessary to do this kind of tour in Rio; there are a lot of wonderful attractions, he said.

A company representative said Private Tours was just one of several companies running tours of some of the city's 600 slums, or favelas, that are largely controlled by heavily armed drug gangs. - Travelpress travel news