Residents of Rio de Janeiro lined up bodies in the street Wednesday after Brazil’s deadliest police raid killed at least 119 people. The operation spotlighted the city’s controversial war against entrenched drug gangs, raising fears over police violence in densely populated favelas.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed horror at the death toll, just days before Brazil hosts COP30 climate talks in Belem. Activists and United Nations officials condemned the heavy use of force, while Rio’s state government praised the raid as a decisive success.
The heavily armed Comando Vermelho gang has seized large areas of Rio, operating from sprawling favelas and attacking officers with drones. AFP journalists reported residents of Complexo da Penha discovered dozens of bodies in a nearby forest, some disfigured or decapitated.
Witnesses described the killings as deliberate, accusing authorities of targeting people for execution rather than neutralizing criminal threats in the community. State officials said 115 suspected gang members and four police officers died, though the Public Defender’s Office reported at least 132 fatalities.
Armoured vehicles, helicopters, and drones backed large numbers of officers as the operation unfolded amid intense gunfire and terrified residents fleeing. Comando Vermelho seized buses to barricade highways and launched drone attacks, escalating the confrontation to war-like levels throughout the favelas.
Governor Claudio Castro called the raid a success, insisting special forces deliberately moved suspects into forests to shield civilians from crossfire. Angry residents and lawyers reported some victims were tied up, burned, or shot in the back, calling the deaths extrajudicial killings.
Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said Lula was unaware of the operation, describing the president as shocked by the scale and casualties. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the High Commissioner for Human Rights demanded urgent investigations into the killings and accountability for excessive force.