An 80-year-old Brazilian woman was hailed as a hero on Wednesday after videotape she filmed from her apartment window led to the arrests of suspected drug dealers and corrupt police officers.

The woman, who is now in a witness protection program, told the tabloid Extra that she had shot more than 33 hours of video through a hole in her curtains and had tinted windows to avoid being seen.

The tapes show traffickers carrying assault rifles and pistols in plain daylight on the Tabajaras Steps, a passageway leading to a hillside slum near Rio de Janeiro's famed Copacabana Beach. They also showed dealers bribing police officers and clients and young children snorting cocaine.

Police on Wednesday occupied the Tabajaras slum to search for six criminals appearing on the tapes, as well as concealed drugs and weapons. They already have arrested 13 suspected drug traffickers and two police officers who were filmed receiving money from drug dealers.