Brazil: at least 25 dead in drug operation in Rio favela

At least 25 people, including a police officer, were killed on Thursday in a massive drug operation in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian media reported.

The operation was carried out earlier in the day against traffickers accused of recruiting minors in the poor neighborhood of Jacarezinho, in northern Rio, the G1 news site reported, citing police.

"The investigation follows information received by the Child Protection Unit that drug traffickers are recruiting children and adolescents to join the main criminal gang in the region," authorities said in a statement. . "These criminals carry out acts such as drug trafficking, theft of goods, assaults on pedestrians, homicides and the attack on subway trains, among other crimes in the region," according to this statement. The Jacarezinho neighborhood is considered a base for Comando Vermelho, the largest drug trafficking gang in Rio de Janeiro.

GloboNews television broadcast footage showing armed people fleeing through the favela during the police operation.

Residents also posted videos on social media showing explosions, firefights and helicopters flying over the area.

Operação no Jacarezinho tem policial civil morto, but must policiais baleados, passageiros do metrô atingidos por balas perdidas e fuga de bandidos. # Guerra # riodejaneiro pic.twitter.com/mdsmTQndCa

- jardimcatarinaemfoco (@ jardimcatarina1) May 6, 2021

Large numbers of police were seen circulating in the favela, as frightened residents tried to resume their occupations after the shooting ended, AFP correspondents noted.

Local residents reported seeing corpses lying on the roadway in pools of blood and many bodies taken out of an armored police vehicle, a local community official told AFP, asking for security reasons. that his name not be published.

Justificativa de megaoperação no Jacarezinho é 'quase risível', diz membro of Laboratório de Violência da Uerj: Na operação desta manhã, um policial civil morreu com um tiro na cabeça, outros lui ficaram feridos.

A corporação diz que 14 suspeitos morreram https://t.co/U43FWZGTXz pic.twitter.com/MrGlnKb7o9

- São Gonçalo Urgente (@SGOurgente) May 6, 2021

At least two people were also injured while traveling in the skytrain, caught in crossfire, according to media which showed images of two victims receiving treatment on the platform of Triagem station.

Görüntüler: #RiodeJaneiro pic.twitter.com/zo0R7RhXp0

- RealisT 🛡️ (@Realistqx) May 6, 2021

According to the digital platform Fogo cruzado (Crossfire) which lists acts of violence in Rio de Janeiro, this is the heaviest toll for an operation of this kind since 2016, when the census began.

The operation took place despite a Supreme Court ruling prohibiting police from carrying out raids in impoverished Brazil's favelas during the coronavirus pandemic, except in "absolutely exceptional circumstances".

Police said the operation followed an investigation that led to a warrant to wiretap suspects' communications and identify 21 gang members "tasked with ensuring territorial domination using handguns." fire ”. The group "had set up a military-type structure with hundreds of

soldiers

equipped with rifles, pistols, grenades, bulletproof vests, camouflage uniforms and other military accessories," police said.