At least 64 people, including four police officers, have been killed in a law enforcement operation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, according to local media reports.
On Tuesday, Governor Claudio Castro issued a video statement saying 60 alleged criminals had been “neutralised”, as part of a large-scale police operation that saw police deliver more than 250 arrest and search warrants.
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He added that 81 people had been taken into custody, and weapons were seized.
“What do we want? A Rio de Janeiro and a Brazil free of crime,” Castro said. “And we will not retreat, because we believe the more public safety works, the freer you and your family will be.”
But the death toll has attracted international scrutiny. Tuesday’s raid, in the north of the city, has become the single most lethal police operation in local history.
Officials have explained that the violence was part of an effort against drug trafficking and organised crime called Operation Containment.
The gang Comando Vermelho, also known as the Red Command, was named as one of the primary targets. The state government described Operation Containment as the largest ever initiative to target the group.
“The operation aims to combat the territorial expansion of the Comando Vermelho and capture criminal leaders from Rio de Janeiro and other states,” Governor Castro wrote on the social media platform X.
Castro explained that as many as 2,500 officers took part in Tuesday’s police raid, some equipped with armoured vehicles and helicopters.
The initiative centred on the Alemao and Penha favela complexes — low-income, densely populated neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.
But gunfire broke out as the operation was under way, leading to dozens killed and injured, as well as road closures. Initial reports indicate stray bullets may have struck bystanders.
Comando Vermelho is considered the main drug-trafficking organisation in Rio de Janeiro, and it holds power in some of the city’s poorer neighbourhoods.
But other criminal organisations have also exerted significant sway throughout the state.
“ Sixty percent of the territory of the state of Rio de Janeiro is either controlled by drug gangs or by the militia, which were formal policemen that decided to charge people that live in the slums to pay them security fees,” Al Jazeera correspondent Monica Yanakiew explained.
In the 1980s, Comando Vermelho emerged as a major player in the global cocaine trade, collaborating with Colombian cartels and traffickers in the Amazon rainforest to distribute illicit narcotics.
Brazil ranks second globally — behind only the United States — in gross cocaine consumption.
The country documented more than 180,000 incidents involving cocaine trafficking in 2023, resulting in the seizure of nearly 130,000 kilograms (286,600 pounds) of the drug, according to government figures.
Police raids against criminal organisations are not uncommon in Brazil’s favelas, and many turn deadly. In 2024, approximately 700 people died during police operations in Rio, a rate of almost two a day.
One of the deadliest such raids came in 2021, when armed police stormed the Jacarezinho favela, killing at least 25 people.
Al Jazeera obtained video and pictures at the time that showed homes riddled with bullet holes and blood flowing through the favela streets.
Such scenes raise concerns about police violence and the efficacy of such raids.
Reporting from Rio de Janeiro, Yanakiew said she had spoken to residents who were upset by Tuesday’s bloodshed.
“ These are some relatives of the people that were taken here that are very angry,” she said, gesturing around her. “They say that there are some 20 bodies up the hill, which they can’t take to the hospital.”
Yanakiew added that, with Brazil heading into a national election in 2026, the threat of criminal violence and drug trafficking is expected to take centre stage.
Incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced last week that he plans to run for re-election in the upcoming race, but he is set to face sharp criticism from Brazil’s right wing.
“ The government does not want to consider these criminal gangs as terrorists, as the right in Brazil wants,” Yanakiew explained. “ So this is an ongoing debate now.”
Human rights groups have also questioned the timing of such large-scale police operations in Brazil, which are not uncommon before major international events.
Next week, Rio de Janeiro will host the C40 World Mayors Summit and Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, awarded for environmental achievements.
Later on, Brazil is expected to welcome world leaders for the United Nations climate summit, COP30, in the Amazonian city of Belem, starting November 10.
