More than 60 people, including four police officers, were killed in a law enforcement operation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, local media reported.
On Tuesday, Governor Claudio Castro issued a video statement saying 60 criminal suspects had been “neutralized” as part of a major police operation in which police issued more than 250 arrest warrants and search warrants.
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He added that 81 people were detained and weapons were seized.
“What do we want? Rio de Janeiro and a crime-free Brazil,” Castro said. “And we will not back down, because we believe the more public safety efforts we do, the more freedom you and your family will have.”
But the death toll has drawn international attention. Tuesday’s raid in the city’s north was the deadliest police operation in local history.
Officials said the violence was part of Operation Containment, an effort against drug trafficking and organized crime.
The gang Commando Vermelho, also known as the Red Commando, was named as one of the main targets. The state government described the containment operation as the largest-ever effort targeting the group.
“This operation aims to counter the territorial expansion of Commando Vermelho and to detain criminal leaders in Rio de Janeiro and other states,” Governor Castro wrote on social media platform X.
Castro said Tuesday’s police raid involved as many as 2,500 police officers, some equipped with armored vehicles and helicopters.
The initiative focused on the favela complexes of Alemao and Peña, low-income, densely populated areas on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
However, gunfire erupted during the operation, resulting in dozens of casualties and road closures. Initial reports indicate that stray bullets may have struck bystanders.
Commando Vermelho is considered Rio de Janeiro’s main drug lord and holds power in some poor areas of the city.
However, other criminal organizations also exert significant influence throughout the state.
“Sixty percent of the territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro is controlled by drug gangs or militias, which are the official police force who decide to charge security fees to people living in the favelas,” explained Al Jazeera correspondent Monica Yanakiu.
In the 1980s, Commando Vermelho emerged as a major player in the global cocaine trade, working with Colombian cartels and traffickers in the Amazon rainforest to distribute illegal drugs.
Brazil ranks second in the world in total cocaine consumption, after the United States.
More than 180,000 cases involving cocaine trafficking were recorded in the country in 2023, resulting in the seizure of around 130,000 kilograms (286,600 pounds) of the drug, according to government statistics.
Police raids on criminal organizations in Brazil’s favelas are not uncommon, and many end in deadly situations. In 2024, around 700 people died during police operations in Rio, a rate of almost two per day.
One of the deadliest such attacks took place in 2021, when armed police stormed the Jacarezinho favela, killing at least 25 people.
Al Jazeera obtained videos and photos at the time showing blood running down the streets of shantytowns and houses riddled with bullet holes.
Scenes like this raise concerns about police violence and the effectiveness of such raids.
Yanakiu reported from Rio de Janeiro and said he spoke with residents shaken by Tuesday’s bloodshed.
“The relatives of the people who were taken here are very angry,” she said, gesturing around her. “They say there are about 20 bodies on the hill and they can’t take them to the hospital.”
Yanakiu added that as Brazil approaches national elections in 2026, the threat of criminal violence and drug trafficking is expected to gain attention.
Incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced last week that he plans to run for re-election in the next election, but he is sure to face harsh criticism from Brazil’s right.
“The government does not want to label these criminal organizations as terrorists, as the Brazilian right wants them to do,” Yanakiu explained. “So this is an ongoing discussion.”
Human rights groups have also questioned the timing of such a large-scale police operation, which is not uncommon in Brazil before major international events.
Next week Rio de Janeiro will host the C40 Global Mayors Summit and Prince William’s Earthshot Awards for Environmental Achievement.
Brazil will then host world leaders at the United Nations Climate Summit COP30, which will be held in the Amazonian city of Belem from November 10.
