Police operation in Rio de Janeiro favelas leaves at least 60 people dead

More than 60 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.
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.