At least 64 killed as 2,500 Brazilian police raid drug gangs in Rio
Hundreds of heavily armed Brazilian police carried out a drug raid in slum areas of Rio today, triggering intense firefights described as resembling scenes from a war.
At least 64 people were reported dead, according to Brazilian officials, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
As many as 2500 officers as well as armoured vehicles and helicopters took part in the raid that targeted one of Brazil’s main drug-trafficking gangs in two poor neighbourhoods called favelas.
War-like scenes unfolded during the operation, which was still going on. Images circulating on social media showed columns of smoke rising into the sky as bursts of gunfire rang out.
Rio state Governor Claudio Castro described the operation as the largest in the state’s history.
The central Government said the raid aimed to stop a gang called Comando Vermelho from expanding.
The death toll stands at 64, including four police officers, a source in the security services said. The source did not say if the other fatalities were all criminal suspects.
Raids in the favelas are common but this was the deadliest one yet. Until now the highest death toll came in a raid in 2021 that left 28 people dead.
Police also seized at least 42 rifles along with a large quantity of drugs, Castro said. At least 81 people were arrested.
The raid focused on two clusters of favelas in northern Rio, the Complexo da Penha and Complexo do Alemao, located near the international airport.
An AFP photographer saw heavily armed police officers taking away detained men, most of them barefoot and shirtless.
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