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Brazil to Begin Shooting Drug Planes


A new law comes into effect in Brazil Sunday, allowing the country's air force to shoot down planes suspected of smuggling drugs.

Drug traffickers frequently fly over Brazil while smuggling drugs from neighboring Colombia. Bogota also has a similar shoot-down policy.

Brazilian officials say air force pilots must follow an eight-step procedure before shooting at a suspected drug plane.

Critics say that despite those steps, the chance of human error remains and innocent people could be killed.

Such a mistake occurred in Peru in 2001, and an American missionary and her child were killed.

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