Death toll rises to 121 in Rio de Janeiro’s deadliest police operation

The death toll from a massive police operation in Rio de Janeiro has risen to 121, including four police officers, according to figures released Wednesday by state authorities. The two-day operation in the favela complexes is now the deadliest in the state’s history.

The raid, which began Tuesday, mobilized about 2,500 civil and military police officers in a large-scale crackdown against the Red Command, one of Brazil’s most powerful criminal organizations.

The operation caused widespread disruption across Rio’s North Zone, including road closures, halted bus services, and the suspension of classes in 83 schools, according to officials cited by g1.

Residents reported finding dozens of bodies in wooded areas, according to g1. Police said 63 bodies were recovered during searches in the region.

Rio de Janeiro’s Secretary of Military Police, Marcelo de Menezes, said officers employed a tactic known as the “BOPE Wall,” in which special operations teams surrounded suspects in the nearby mountain area and forced them toward the woods, where other units were positioned.

Footage shared by residents, police, and armed groups showed scenes resembling an urban war zone, with hundreds of gunshots through the favelas and multiple fires burning amid the clashes.

The operation, called Containment, began after more than a year of investigation into the Red Command’s activities. Authorities previously reported 81 arrests and the seizure of 93 rifles, more than half a ton of drugs, and multiple drones and explosives used by the group.