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The crackle of gunfire and the thud of explosions jolted residents awake in northern Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, as a police raid against one of Brazil’s most powerful criminal organizations turned several of the city’s favelas into a war zone, leaving at least 60 people dead.
The target was the Red Command (Comando Vermelho, or CV), Brazil’s oldest criminal organization, involved primarily in drug and arms trafficking, bank robberies, kidnapping, and other crimes.
Its members opened fire on the 2,500 officers involved in the operation, set up burning barricades, and even deployed an explosive-carrying drone to slow the police advance. A video published by G1 captures the sound of hundreds of gunshots fired in less than a minute.
“It started at 5 a.m. A lot of gunfire,” said Antonio Carlos Marcos, a resident of Complexo do Alemão, one of the favelas where the clashes occurred, in an interview with OCCRP. The Alemão and Penha complexes are among Rio’s largest favelas, home to more than 90,000 residents combined.
He said he stepped out onto his balcony to see what was happening and to film it. Then he heard a different sound: a bullet that struck his living room.
Nobody was hurt, but the wall had a hole next to a picture that reads ‘Jesus.’ He posted the video on Instagram.
According to official figures, “Operation Containment” became the deadliest raid in the city’s history: at least 64 people were killed, 81 suspects arrested, and 93 rifles seized.
In a press conference, Rio state governor Cláudio Castro expressed regret over the deaths of four officers in “the largest operation in the history of Rio.” He criticized the lack of federal support: “Rio de Janeiro is completely alone in this fight today.”
Journalist Cecília Olliveira, founding director of Instituto Fogo Cruzado—a think tank monitoring armed violence in 57 cities across Brazil—criticized Rio’s approach, saying such spectacles do not weaken criminal groups.
“This is the portrait of a state that replaces public policy with a spectacle of war,” she said. According to her organization, 123 security agents have been shot in Rio so far this year.
“Today [at least] four police officers were killed and eight others injured. It’s absurd. The state is doing its math with the blood of public security agents,” she added.
Olliveira said the state of Rio treats public security as an election platform. In other parts of the country, similar organized crime cells have been dismantled without a single shot fired.
“Rio keeps betting on cinematic actions that don’t disrupt these groups’ finances, logistics, or institutional protection,” she said.
Some favela residents echoed this sentiment, viewing the operation as a failure.
“When the state comes in with thousands of police officers, helicopters, armored vehicles, and even drones, what it produces is not safety,” said Raull Santiago, an activist and coordinator of social projects who also lives in Complexo do Alemão. “Many people couldn’t leave home to go to work, take their kids to school, or even open their businesses.”
He called for investment in education, culture, sports, sanitation, and opportunities for young people. Instead, he said, what residents feel is anger and exhaustion.
“No one can stand living between the sound of the alarm clock and the sound of gunfire anymore,” Santiago said.
