At least 64 people, including four police officers, lost their lives on Tuesday during a large-scale security operation targeting organized crime in Rio de Janeiro, officials told CNN Brasil.
Rio de Janeiro State Governor Cláudio Castro confirmed at a press briefing that police recovered a “large quantity of drugs” in the raid, Reuters reported.
Authorities also announced via social media that security forces seized at least 42 rifles during the operation.
Calling it “the biggest operation in the history of Rio de Janeiro,” Castro made the declaration in a post on X on Tuesday afternoon.
The city, which is set to host the C40 World Mayors Summit, a major climate conference, next week, often sees heightened police activity ahead of international events.
Footage released by Reuters showed thick plumes of black smoke rising from the Alemão favela during the raid, while post-operation images revealed the source, several vehicles burned and used as barricades.
Officials said the mission aimed to “combat the territorial expansion” of the Comando Vermelho (Red Command) gang, Brazil’s oldest and most notorious criminal organization.
According to Rio’s government, the operation had been planned for over a year and involved more than 2,500 military and civilian police officers.
Comando Vermelho, which originated as a leftist prisoners’ movement during Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964–1985), has since evolved into a powerful transnational syndicate engaged in drug trafficking and extortion.
In recent years, the group has faced intensified clashes with both law enforcement and rival militias, according to the think tank InSight Crime.
Authorities reported that at least 81 suspects were arrested in the sweep. During the raid, police said the gang used drones to attack officers.
“In retaliation, criminals used drones to attack police officers in the Penha Complex,” the Rio state government wrote on X, sharing footage that appeared to show a drone dropping an explosive.
“Despite the attacks, security forces remain steadfast in the fight against crime,” the statement continued.
“This is the magnitude of the challenge we face,” Governor Castro said in another post, adding, “It is no longer common crime, it is narco-terrorism.”
He also urged residents in the affected areas to remain indoors as the operation continued.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department advised travelers to avoid Rio’s northern districts, citing “ongoing fighting between police and criminal factions” that disrupted traffic across multiple areas of the North Zone.
The Alemão favela has been the site of several deadly operations this year. In January, a similar police incursion left five people dead and streets filled with charred car barricades.
Castro described Tuesday’s operation as even larger than the infamous 2010 security crisis in the same neighborhood.
Data from the Fogo Cruzado (Crossfire) Institute revealed that more than half of all firearm-related injuries in September 2025 resulted from police operations.
Brazil’s heavily armed raids in poor communities have long drawn criticism from human rights groups.
In May 2021, a police operation in Jacarezinho favela killed at least 25 people, prompting the Supreme Court to restrict such raids during the COVID-19 pandemic to “absolutely exceptional” cases.
Reacting to the latest violence, the United Nations Human Rights Office said it was “horrified” by the scale of the bloodshed.
“This deadly operation furthers the trend of extreme lethal consequences of police operations in Brazil’s marginalized communities,” the agency wrote on X. “We remind authorities of their obligations under international human rights law, and urge prompt and effective investigations.”
