Dozens killed, more than 80 arrested in police raids

Source: The Age | Original Published At: 2025-10-28 22:28:33 UTC

Key Points

• 2500 Brazilian police/soldiers conducted raids targeting Red Command gang
• 64 killed (including 4 officers), 81 arrested in Rio's deadliest police operation
• Drones used by gang to attack police; schools, universities closed during clashes
• Road blockades with commandeered buses reported; operation involved helicopters/armored vehicles
• Follows BRICS summit in Rio; precedes C40 climate summit and Earthshot Prize event

Rio de Janeiro: About 2500 Brazilian police and soldiers launched a massive raid on a drug-trafficking gang in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, arresting 81 suspects and sparking shootouts that left at least 64 people dead, officials said.

The operation included officers in helicopters and armoured vehicles and targeted the notorious “Red Command” gang in the sprawling low-income favelas of Complexo de Alemao and Penha, police said.

The state government said criminals had used drones to attack police in the Penha favela, sharing a video on X of what appeared to be a drone firing a projectile from the sky.

Rio de Janeiro State Governor Cláudio Castro told reporters the death toll, which included four police officers, was more than twice Rio’s most deadly previous police operation and may rise as the operation was ongoing.

Social media footage showed fire and smoke rising from the two favelas as gunfire rang out. The city’s Education Department said 46 schools across the two neighbourhoods were closed, and the nearby Federal University of Rio de Janeiro cancelled night classes and told people on campus to seek shelter.

Suspected gang members blocked roads in northern and southeastern Rio in response to the raid, local media reported. At least 50 buses were commandeered to be used in the blockades, the city’s bus organisation, Rio Onibus, said.

After the most intense fighting subsided, a Reuters journalist saw police from a special operations unit rounding up dozens of shirtless men. Sobbing family members gathered outside a public hospital, attending to those injured.

The clashes disrupted the routines of dozens of schools and medical facilities, redirected bus routes and snarled traffic across several neighbourhoods in the state capital.

Rio’s favelas are poor, densely populated settlements woven through the city’s hilly oceanside terrain.

The operation on Tuesday was the largest ever targeting Comando Vermelho (Red Command), police said, and followed a year of investigation. Castro said authorities sought to serve 250 arrest and search warrants.

Police have often conducted large-scale operations against criminal groups ahead of major events in Rio, which hosted the 2016 Olympics, the 2024 G20 summit and the BRICS summit in July.

Next week, Rio hosts the C40 global summit of mayors tackling climate change and Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, which will feature celebrities including pop star Kylie Minogue and four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel.