Gigantic police operation against drug trafficking in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro: at least seven dead

A mega police operation in several favelas of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday left at least seven dead in clashes with suspected criminals, authorities said.

The operation, launched at dawn, was carried out simultaneously in several favelas in the north of Rio, among these the immense Complexo da Maré, do Alemão and da Penha.

“Seven criminals died in clashes with our teams. Five rifles, three pistols, seven radios (…) and narcotics were seized and will be reported. Furthermore, three suspects were injured and two arrested”, reported the Police Military of the state of Rio on the social network X, adding that two police officers were injured.

The joint action of Rio’s civil and military police officers tried to capture them members of the Red Command, one of the largest criminal organizations in Brazil, addicted to drug trafficking.

“The Civil Police (…) carries out this Tuesday a mega operation against the traffickers of the Red Command (CV) operating in the Complexo da Maré”, reads a statement from the Civil Police of Rio.

“After intelligence and monitoring reports, officers discovered a movement of criminals in the region who, in addition to drug trafficking, are under investigation for vehicle theft,” he added.

Numerous police vans and heavily armed officers blocked the entrances to the Alemão Complex.

Photos released by Rio’s military police showed excavators busy removing metal barriers placed by criminals at the different entrances of the Complexo do Alemão.

Barricades and schools closed

Other images circulating on social media show barricades with tires and furniture, some on fire.

The mega-operation forced the suspension of classes at dozens of education centers affecting 20,500 students, Rio councilor Thais Ferreira told X.

At the end of September, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced that it would allocate 900 million reais (about $180 million) over the next three years to a national plan to combat criminal organisations, in coordination with state authorities.

Police operations against organized crime are frequent in Rio neighborhoods, where the police are often involved in firefights with traffickers and the population suffers the crossfire.

Specialists and human rights organizations criticize this type of approach, arguing that it is not very effective against criminal gangs.

In August 2023, drug raids in several favelas in Rio, San Pabo and Bahia left 44 people dead in less than a week.

“The large-scale operation aims to crack down on organized crime and capture the leaders and members of the criminal faction that promotes most of the armed attacks and attempts at territorial expansion in the north and west of Rio,” as well as in the region metropolitan and in the interior of the state, the Military Police explained Tuesday.

The Red Command was born in Rio de Janeiro and is one of the largest criminal factions in Brazil, mainly dedicated to drug and weapons trafficking and with operations in other states of the country.

This band competes in Brazil and in some surrounding countries, such as Paraguayfor control of drug trafficking routes with the First Capital Command (PCC), the largest Brazilian faction that emerged in São Paulo in the 1990s.

In the specific case of Rio de Janeiro, the ‘Comando Vermelho’ also came into conflict with the so-called ‘militias’ (paramilitary groups) who expanded their control over some neighborhoods of the city.

The governor of Rio, Cláudio Castro, defender of a tough strategy against crime, has indicated as one of the objectives of his mandate the decapitation of the major factions in the region, which includes the arrest of Wilton Carlos Rabello Quintanilha, alias ‘Abelha’, one of the leaders of the ‘Comando Vermelho’.

Source: AFP and EFE