TWO BRAZILIAN POLICE DIE IN CLASH WITH DRUG SMUGGLERS

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Two Brazilian federal police officers were killed
and a third badly wounded Wednesday in a battle with drug traffickers
in the Amazon region, authorities said.

The shooting erupted in the wee hours when the crew of a police
launch tried to board a suspected smuggling boat headed east on the
Solimoes River, a tributary of the Amazon.

Authorities had intelligence indicating the boat was carrying 500
kilos (1,100 pounds) of cocaine from neighboring Peru or Colombia,
federal police said in a statement.

The officers who tried to board the boat were shot by rifle-toting
gunmen traveling on a third vessel that was apparently escorting the
drug shipment.

The incident took place in the Codajas area, about 240 kilometers
(149 miles) from Manaus, capital of Amazonas state and the largest
city in the Amazon region.

While reinforcements, including helicopter units, were sent to aid
the officers under attack, the statement did not say whether any of
the assailants were killed or captured.

But unconfirmed press accounts said three of the attackers were killed.

Police seized 127 kilos of cocaine last week in a confrontation with
smugglers on the Rio Negro, another Amazon tributary, and 2.5 tons of
the drug have been confiscated in Amazonas state this year.