Rio Raid 

A massive police operation in Rio de Janeiro resulted in at least 121 deaths, making it the deadliest raid in the Brazilian city's history.

Context

Rio de Janeiro has long struggled with violent confrontations between police and drug trafficking organizations. The Red Command gang, which formed in Rio's prisons in the late 1970s, has expanded its control across Brazil in recent years. The group primarily traffics drugs but also smuggles weapons, gold, fuel, alcohol, and tobacco. In Rio, residents of low-income neighborhoods have frequently experienced large-scale police operations targeting these criminal organizations, though such raids have historically failed to dismantle the gangs' leadership structures.

The Raid

Around 2,500 police officers descended on two Rio neighborhoods last Tuesday morning, deploying armored vehicles and helicopters in an effort to arrest leaders of the Red Command. 

Gang members fought back using firearms and explosive-laden drones, while residents hid in their homes as gunfire erupted throughout the area. Schools closed, health centers shut down, and chaos spread across the city as gang members hijacked buses to block roads. By Wednesday, residents searching for missing family members had recovered approximately 70 bodies from nearby woods, exceeding initial police estimates of around 60 deaths. The official police death toll is listed at 121 – including four police officers – though public defenders list it at 132.

Reactions

Rio's conservative governor defended the raid as necessary to combat what he called "narco-terrorism," noting that police arrested 113 people and seized 118 weapons and a ton of drugs. However, officials acknowledged that the main target, a top gang leader, escaped capture.

A poll conducted immediately after the raid found that 62% of Rio residents supported the police action, with support rising to 88% among favela residents. Many crime-weary residents expressed frustration with gang violence and viewed the operation as sending a strong message against criminal activity.

Others, however, disapproved of the operation, with hundreds marching in protest through one of the favelas that was targeted, demanding the resignation of Rio’s state governor.

Criticism

The United Nations office said it was "horrified" by the death toll as questions emerged about whether innocent people were killed. Residents described mutilated bodies and alleged that some victims had been stabbed. Rio’s governor claimed that bodies displayed by locals had been "manipulated" to shift blame to police, saying camouflage clothing and weapons had been removed from corpses.

Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the governor to explain the police actions in detail. Security analysts argued that such heavy-handed operations fail to dismantle criminal networks because they typically target low-level members rather than leadership, and that targeting the gangs' finances and supply chains would prove more effective.