Rio de Janeiro: Around 2,500 Brazilian police officers and soldiers carried out a major operation against a drug-trafficking gang in Rio de Janeiro this week, resulting in intense gun battles that left at least 60 suspects and four police officers dead, officials said. A total of 81 suspects were arrested during the raid.
The large-scale crackdown, involving helicopters and armored vehicles, targeted the notorious Red Command gang operating in the sprawling favelas of Complexo do Alemao and Penha, police said.
The police operation was one of the most violent in Brazil’s recent history, with human rights organizations calling for investigations into the deaths. Rio's state Gov Claudio Castro said in a video posted on X that 60 criminal suspects were "neutralized" during the massive raid that he called the biggest such operation in the city’s history. Some 81 suspects were arrested, while 93 rifles and more than half a ton of drugs were seized, the state government said, adding that those killed “resisted police action."
The United Nations' human rights body said it was "horrified" by the deadly police operation, called for effective investigations and reminded authorities of their obligations under international human rights law.
Cesar Munoz, director of Human Rights Watch in Brazil, called Tuesday's events "a huge tragedy" and a "disaster." "The public prosecutor's office must open its own investigations and clarify the circumstances of each death," Munoz said in a statement.
Videos circulating on social media showed thick smoke and flames billowing from the two favelas as gunfire echoed through the neighborhoods. The city's Education Department announced the closure of 46 schools across the affected areas, while the nearby Federal University of Rio de Janeiro canceled evening classes and instructed students and staff to remain indoors for safety.
