Death toll rises to 119 in Rio de Janeiro drug cartel bust

More than 100 people were killed in Rio de Janeiro following a police raid against one of Brazil’s top drug cartels that has become the most lethal in the city’s history.

Gunfights erupted between security forces and gang members after the deployment of 2,500 agents early on Tuesday in poor hillside communities considered a stronghold of the Comando Vermelho criminal faction.

The military-style operation resulted in 119 fatalities, including four officers, the state government confirmed on Wednesday — almost double the official estimate a day before.

Police arrested 113 people, with 118 weapons and a half a tonne of drugs also seized. Police said alleged gang members used drones to drop bombs on special forces during the raid.

Rio de Janeiro’s rightwing governor Cláudio Castro on Tuesday said the state and country were at “war”.

“We will remain steadfast in the fight against organised crime,” he added. “What we are facing is no longer common crime. It is narcoterrorism.”

The bloodshed in the Alemão and Penha favela complexes on the city’s northern outskirts highlights the growing problem of organised criminality in Brazil and the region more widely.

It occurred days before Rio is due to host events linked to the COP30 climate summit, which will take place in the Amazonian port of Belém next month.

Although authorities said the confrontations mostly took place in forested areas and there was planning to protect lives, critics of the operation questioned the broad use of deadly force. Residents recovered dozens of bodies from nearby woods early on Wednesday morning, according to local reports.

The violence sparked tensions between the Rio state government and the national administration of leftwing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which was taken by surprise by the crackdown.

Justice minister Ricardo Lewandowski on Wednesday said Lula was “appalled” by the number of deaths.

“He was surprised that an operation of this magnitude was launched without the knowledge of the federal government, without any possibility of participating in any way with its resources, especially with information and logistical support,” the minister added.

“Brute physical force is not enough. Confronting [organised crime] requires intelligence, planning and co-ordinated actions.”

Following a meeting between Lewandowski and Castro on Wednesday evening, the pair announced the creation of an emergency office to fight organised crime in Rio de Janeiro. 

A number of right-leaning state governors were planning to visit the city in a gesture of political solidarity, reflecting divisions in Brazilian society over how to deal with drug trafficking and violent crime. 

Rising cocaine consumption in Europe and the US has fuelled the expansion of South American narcotics cartels, whose transnational connections have alarmed authorities. 

Brazilian law enforcement launched what it called the country’s largest- ever operation against organised crime in August, targeting an alleged multibillion-dollar money laundering scheme orchestrated by a large drug gang and involving petrol stations, fintech companies and investment funds.

Across the continent, gangs have diversified into activities ranging from firearms trafficking and illegal gold mining to the infiltration of legitimate businesses.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has made it a priority to tackle the flow of narcotics from Latin America.

Since early September it has conducted at least 14 strikes against what Washington says are drug trafficking vessels, and last week escalated its military presence in the region.

Trump administration officials informed Brazilian counterparts earlier this year that Washington was considering a terrorist designation for the Comando Vermelho and its São Paulo rival the Primeiro Comando da Capital, Brazil’s most powerful organised crime syndicate.

Founded as a prison self-protection gang in 1979, the Comando Vermelho has grown into a nationwide criminal enterprise that operates cocaine routes in the Amazon jungle.

Additional reporting by Beatriz Langella