Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
About 2,500 police officers and soldiers launched one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest-ever operations against organised crime on Tuesday, resulting in fierce gun battles that left more than 60 people dead, including four police officers, and at least 80 suspects arrested
The raid, which deployed helicopters and armoured vehicles, targeted the powerful Red Command drug gang in the favelas of Complexo do Alemão and Penha, authorities said.
Police have yet to confirm casualties, but broadcasters GloboNews and CNN Brasil reported a death toll more than double earlier official figures.
The United Nations Human Rights Office said it was “horrified” by the bloodshed, warning that the raid underscored “the extreme lethal consequences” of police operations in Brazil’s marginalised communities. It urged authorities to ensure compliance with international human rights standards and to launch “prompt and effective investigations.”
Police raids are common ahead of major international events in Rio. Next week, Rio de Janeiro will host the C40 World Mayors Summit and Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, awarded for environmental achievements.
Brazil is also expected to welcome world leaders for the United Nations climate summit, COP30, in the Amazonian city of Belem, starting November 10.
Rio has been the scene of lethal police raids for decades. In March 2005, some 29 people were killed in Rio's Baixada Fluminense region, while in May 2021, 28 were killed in the Jacarezinho favela.
While Tuesday's police operation was similar to previous ones, its scale was unprecedented, said Luis Flavio Sapori, a sociologist and public safety expert at Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais. He suggested the eventual confirmed death toll could dwarf that of previous raids.
He argued that these kinds of operations are inefficient because they do not tend to catch the masterminds, but rather target underlings who can later be replaced.
“It's not enough to go in, exchange gunfire, and leave. There's a lack of strategy in Rio de Janeiro's public security policy," Sapori said. “Some lower-ranking members of these factions are killed, but those individuals are quickly replaced by others.”
Footage on social media showed fire and smoke rising from the two favelas as gunfire rang out. The city's education department said 46 schools across the two neighbourhoods were closed, and the nearby Federal University of Rio de Janeiro cancelled night classes and told people on campus to seek shelter.
Claudio Castro, the conservative governor of Rio state, said the operation was the largest in the city's history, and that the federal government should be providing more support to combat crime.
Emerging from Rio's prisons, the Red Command criminal gang has expanded its control in favelas in recent years.
“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 X.
