At least 64 people, including four police officers, have been killed in a large-scale operation against organised crime in Rio de Janeiro, the state government said, days before the Brazilian city is set to host major events related to the COP30 global climate summit.
"We stand firm confronting narcoterrorism," Governor Claudio Castro wrote on social media on Tuesday as he announced the operation, which he said involved 2,500 security personnel across the Alemao and Penha favela complexes.
The police mobilised two helicopters, 32 armoured vehicles, and 12 demolition vehicles used to destroy barricades erected by drug traffickers to prevent police from entering the narrow streets of the favelas.
The complexes are poor, densely populated settlements on Rio's outskirts.
Authorities said the other 18 fatalities were suspected of connections to drug trafficking.
The largest operation to date
Rio next week will host the C40 summit of global mayors and Prince William's Earthshot Prize, which will feature celebrities including pop star Kylie Minogue and four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Both are part of the run-up to the United Nations climate summit COP30 taking place in Belem, in northern Brazil.
Large-scale police operations are not uncommon ahead of major international events in Rio, which hosted matches of the 2014 World Cup, the 2016 Olympics, the 2024 G20 summit, and the BRICS summit earlier this year.
The state government described Tuesday's operation as the largest ever targeting the Comando Vermelho gang.
At least 56 people have been arrested as authorities sought to serve 250 arrest and search warrants, the government added.
Last year, approximately 700 people died during police operations in Rio, almost two a day. In 2020, Brazil's Supreme Court imposed restrictions on counter-drug operations in the favelas, such as limiting the use of helicopters and operations in areas near schools or health centres.
However, the same court lifted those restrictions this year. Experts and human rights organisations have criticised this strategy by the security forces, deeming it ineffective against criminal organisations.
The Human Rights Commission of the Rio State Legislative Assembly said it would demand "explanations of the circumstances of the action, which has once again transformed Rio's favelas into a theatre of war and barbarism," Congresswoman Dani Monteiro, president of the commission, told AFP.
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Source: TRT