At least 64 people, including four police officers, were killed on Tuesday in Rio de Janeiro’s deadliest police operation on record, launched just days before the city hosts major global environmental events linked to the upcoming United Nations COP30 climate summit.
Governor Claudio Castro said the massive raid targeted the Comando Vermelho (Red Command), one of Brazil’s most powerful criminal organizations. The operation involved 2,500 security personnel across the Alemão and Penha favela complexes, near Rio’s international airport.
“We stand firm confronting narcoterrorism,” Castro wrote on social media, calling the action the largest anti-gang operation in the state’s history.
The clashes erupted ahead of next week’s C40 World Mayors Summit on climate change and Prince William’s Earthshot Prize ceremony, which will draw global attention to Rio and feature celebrities including Kylie Minogue and Sebastian Vettel.
Both events form part of the lead-up to COP30, set to take place from November 10–21 in the Amazon city of Belém.
Witnesses said smoke billowed over Rio’s skyline as gangs torched vehicles to block armored police convoys. Gunfire echoed across several neighborhoods, while police released videos showing suspects using drones armed with grenades and fleeing into forested areas.
A Reuters journalist saw special operations police detaining dozens of shirtless men after the fighting subsided, while distraught relatives gathered outside hospitals treating the wounded.
The operation also caused widespread disruptions, schools and clinics were closed, public transport was diverted, and heavy traffic snarled several areas of the city.
Authorities said 81 people were arrested and that police sought to serve 250 arrest and search warrants targeting alleged drug lords and money-laundering networks.
However, human rights advocates condemned the bloodshed. Carolina Ricardo, executive director of the security think tank Sou da Paz, called the raid a “tragedy,” saying it reflected “a completely failed approach” that “does not actually target the links in the drug production chain.”
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
