Deadliest-ever police raid on Rio de Janeiro gang leaves at least 64 dead

Brazilian police launched their most lethal operation ever in Rio de Janeiro, leaving at least 64 dead as authorities squared off against a major gang in the global tourist destination just ahead of next week’s climate summit.

Pre-dawn raids targeted leaders of the notorious Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, according to a statement from Rio’s state government. The gang is one of Brazil’s largest criminal groups with operations spread across many of city’s hillside favelas.

Shootouts with heavily-armed police extended late into afternoon across densely-packed streets, as some gang members responded by erecting make-shift barricades with cars set ablaze. Police could be seen rounding up shirtless young men prior to arresting over 80 of them.

Over the course of the day, some 2,500 police backed by 32 armoured vehicles executed arrest warrants in Rio’s northern slums, known locally as favelas.

The raging gun battles erupted just days before the picturesque seaside metropolis is set to host pre-COP30 events ahead of Brazil kicking off this year’s UN Climate Change Conference.

War-like scenes unfolded during the operation, with Images circulating on social media showing columns of smoke rising into the sky as bursts of gunfire rang out.

Local authorities have repeatedly ramped up efforts to fight organized crime before mega-events held in Rio, which in recent years hosted the Olympics and World Cup. But the scale and carnage caused by Tuesday’s operation far surpassed previous police action even in a city with a long history of bloody gang violence.

The outburst in Rio follow broader efforts to combat organized crime in Brazil and across the region. Extrajudicial killings of alleged drug dealers — a common occurrence in the Brazilian city — are also drawing intensifying scrutiny as President Donald Trump orders the U.S. military to blow up boats he says are smuggling narcotics from Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin American. Those attacks have also yielded a growing death toll in the Caribbean and off of South America’s Pacific coast.

The latest police strikes in Rio also highlight a rift between Brazil’s state and federal officials over how to confront the gangs. According to Rio authorities, gang members launched drones to drop explosives on security forces and hijacked dozens of buses.

“This is the scale of the challenge we face,” Rio Governor Claudio Castro wrote on social media. Using the same term Trump’s defence chief has applied to those operating the boats the U.S. military is targeting, Castro dubbed the police focus as “narcoterrorism.”