At least sixty-four people, including four police officers, were killed in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday in what officials described as one of Brazil’s deadliest anti-narcotics operations in recent history. The massive security raid, involving 2,500 personnel, targeted the powerful Comando Vermelho (Red Command) drug-trafficking gang across the sprawling Complexo do Alemão and Penha favela complexes. The operation came just days before Rio is set to host key events tied to the COP30 climate summit, drawing national and international attention to both the scale of the violence and its timing.
Rio Governor Claudio Castro confirmed the casualty count, saying it was more than double that of the city’s previous deadliest police action. Declaring that authorities would not yield to organized crime, Castro posted on social media that his government “stands firm confronting narco-terrorism.” Police officials reported that the operation aimed to execute over 250 arrest and search warrants against high-ranking gang members and money-laundering networks. So far, eighty-one people have been detained.
Authorities released footage showing suspected gang members using drones equipped with grenades and attempting to flee into nearby forests. Videos shared on social media captured the intensity of the clashes, with heavy gunfire echoing through the densely populated neighborhoods and columns of smoke rising above the favelas. In response, suspected gang members set up roadblocks across northern and southeastern Rio, commandeering over seventy buses to obstruct traffic, causing extensive damage and bringing parts of the city to a standstill.
Human rights groups quickly condemned the operation, calling for an independent investigation into what they described as an “unprecedented bloodbath.” César Muñoz, Brazil director for Human Rights Watch, called the events “a huge tragedy” and demanded that prosecutors independently examine the circumstances surrounding each death. In the wake of the violence, authorities closed forty-six schools, while the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro canceled evening classes and urged students to remain indoors for safety.
Officials said the raid was the result of a year-long investigation into Comando Vermelho’s network, which has long dominated Rio’s slums and remains one of Latin America’s most powerful criminal syndicates. The group, which originated in the city’s prisons during the 1970s, has expanded into drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and extortion, maintaining control over dozens of neighborhoods through violence and intimidation.
Governor Castro, a member of the conservative Liberal Party, used the aftermath to criticize President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s federal administration for what he described as a lack of cooperation in combating organized crime. Lula’s allies, including party leader Gleisi Hoffmann, rejected the accusation, emphasizing that the federal government had recently strengthened anti–anti-money-laundering operations targeting criminal enterprises nationwide.
Rio’s pattern of lethal raids has persisted for decades, often peaking before major international events. Previous large-scale operations include the 2005 Baixada Fluminense massacre, which left twenty-nine dead, and the 2021 Jacarezinho raid, in which twenty-eight were killed. The latest violence comes as Rio prepares to host the C40 global mayors’ summit and Prince William’s Earthshot Prize ceremony, both part of the lead-up to COP30, the UN climate conference scheduled to take place in Belem from November 10 to 21.
Observers noted that major police crackdowns have often coincided with global events in Rio — from the 2016 Olympics to the 2024 G20 and BRICS summits — as authorities seek to project strength and stability. Yet critics argue these repeated operations underscore a deeper problem: Rio’s decades-long failure to address systemic poverty, corruption, and inequality in the favelas that fuel the cycle of violence.
