The operation was launched at dawn yesterday and came just over six years after the shooting of Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes, caused an international outcry.
Brazilian media reports said three prominent figures had been arrested: the federal congressman Chiquinho Brazão; his brother, the former state congressman Domingos Brazão, who is now an adviser to Rio's court of auditors; and Rivaldo Barbosa, who was the head of Rio's civil police when the murder took place.
The Brazão brothers have long faced accusations of involvement in organised crime, which they deny.
As news of the arrests broke, Marcelo Freixo, a prominent leftwing politician who was close to Franco, tweeted: "The arrests today of the Brazão brothers and Rio's former police chief make clear who carried out this killing, who ordered it, and who failed to investigate it."
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