A police raid hailed by Rio de Janeiro’s state governor as a major victory has come under intense scrutiny after a Reuters investigation revealed that none of the 117 suspects killed by security forces were among the 69 individuals named in the criminal complaint that prompted the operation.
The raid, known as Operation Containment, took place on November 10 in two densely populated favelas in northern Rio de Janeiro. In total, 121 people were killed, including four police officers and two teenagers, while 99 suspects were arrested. Despite the scale of the operation, police failed to capture or kill senior members of the Comando Vermelho, one of Brazil’s most powerful and violent criminal organizations.
According to documents reviewed by Reuters and submitted to the Brazilian Supreme Court, only five of the individuals named in the criminal complaint were arrested during the operation, and none were high-ranking gang leaders. The gang’s top figure, Edgar Alves de Andrade, widely known as Doca, remains at large.
The findings contradict official claims that the raid was a strategic blow to the gang. One mid-level leader was detained without any exchange of gunfire, raising further questions about the nature and execution of the operation.
Following the raid, residents of the targeted favelas dragged dozens of bodies into the streets in protest, highlighting the human toll of the confrontation. The incident has deepened a political divide between left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who condemned the raid as “disastrous” and conservative leaders who argue that aggressive police action is necessary to combat organized crime.
Rio’s public safety secretary, Victor dos Santos, acknowledged that the objective was to apprehend the suspects listed in the complaint but insisted that identifying 69 individuals within a densely populated area of 280,000 residents was challenging. He also asserted that all 19 individuals killed without prior criminal records were criminals, despite lacking supporting evidence.
Human rights advocates and victims’ families have accused the police of indiscriminate killings and failing to follow established investigative protocols. Many bodies exhibited signs of excessive force, including gunshot wounds, stab injuries, and even decapitation. The body of 19-year-old Yago Ravel was found without a head, according to public records and video evidence reviewed by Reuters.
Residents say that police did not preserve the crime scene, and no forensic team was called to examine the forested area where many bodies were recovered. Santos claimed that gang members may have mutilated bodies to “create a barbaric scene,” though this assertion is not yet supported by forensic analysis.
Families of the victims, many of whom were gang members but some not, expressed frustration and grief. Samuel Peçanha, whose 14-year-old son Michel was killed, said police routinely act with impunity in the favelas. “They detain them, execute them, and it is all good because they know there is no law here,” he said.
Another mother, Taua Brito, recounted finding her son Wellington, 20, dead in the hills after receiving messages from him as he hid from the raid. “The police had the right to arrest my son, but not to kill him,” she said.
Brazil recorded 44,127 violent deaths in 2024, a slight decrease from the previous year, but police killings remain high, with 6,243 deaths attributed to law enforcement an average of 17 per day.
Despite public outcry, a recent AtlasIntel survey indicated that 55 percent of Brazilians supported the operation. Critics argue, however, that such raids fail to dismantle entrenched criminal networks and instead leave families and communities bearing the long-term consequences.
“What remains are the losses of the families,” said public defender Pedro Carriello, who has been assisting relatives of those killed.
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