Police raid in Rio de Janeiro slum leaves dozens dead

A massive police operation against drug traffickers in a Brazilian favela left 25 people dead, turning a Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood into a battlefield and drawing condemnation from rights groups.

Police get out of an armored vehicle during an operation against alleged drug traffickers in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 6, 2021.
AP

Police get out of an armored vehicle during an operation against alleged drug traffickers in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 6, 2021.

Police targeting drug traffickers have raided a slum in Rio de Janeiro and at least one officer and two dozen others died after being shot, authorities said.

The civil police’s press office on Thursday confirmed the death of the cop and 24 alleged “criminals."

A police helicopter flew low over the Jacarezinho favela as heavily armed men fled police by leaping from roof to roof, according to images shown on local television.

READ MORE: Brazil police arrest one of world's most prolific human traffickers

Police reject execution claims

One woman said that she saw police kill a badly wounded man she described as helpless and unarmed who they found after he had fled into her house.

Felipe Curi, a detective in Rio’s civil police, denied there had been any executions. “There were no suspects killed. They were all traffickers or criminals who tried to take the lives of our police officers and there was no other alternative,” he said during a press conference.

Police had to struggle to enter the favela because of concrete barriers built by the criminals, according to the detective. Shooting spread throughout the community. During the operation, several people Curi described as criminals invaded neighbouring houses trying to hide.

Six were arrested, he said.

The police also seized 16 pistols, six rifles, a submachine gun, 12 grenades, and a shotgun.

Service on a subway line was temporarily suspended “due to intense shooting in the region,” according to a statement from the company that operates it. Earlier, two subway passengers were injured when a stray bullet shattered the glass of one car.

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Crime network recruiting teenagers

Jacarezinho, one of the city’s most populous favelas, with some 40,000 residents, is dominated by the Comando Vermelho, one of Brazil’s leading criminal organisations. The police consider Jacarezinho to be one of the group’s headquarters.

Thursday’s operation was aimed at investigating the recruitment of teenagers to hijack trains and commit other crimes, police said in a statement.

A group of about 50 residents in Jacarezinho poured into a narrow street on Thursday afternoon to follow members of the state legislature’s human rights commission as it conducted an inspection. They shouted “justice” while clapping their hands and some raised their right fists into the air.

Human Rights Watch Brazil said in a statement that the public prosecutor must immediately investigate possible police abuses.

The police statement said the criminal gang has a “warlike structure of soldiers equipped with rifles, grenades, bulletproof vests, pistols, camouflaged clothing, and other military accessories.”

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