RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro — already notorious for street muggings, corrupt politicians, ruthless militias and Kalashnikov-toting drug traffickers — has a new public enemy: plushies. Or, more specifically, the joystick-controlled claw machines that dispense them.
On Wednesday, Rio police were carrying out 16 search warrants targeting the machines that elicit exhilaration among the city’s children and adults alike. But police said in a statement that claw machines defraud users who believe scoring stuffed animals to be a test of skill. In fact, they are games of chance — just like slot machines — and therefore illegal, according to their press office.
Officers seized claw machines, laptops, tablets, cell phones, a firearm and — yes — furry friends. They are investigating whether organized crime groups may be the invisible hand behind the claw because they already run slot machines and a popular lottery known as…