A new police raid against drug trafficking in a favela in Rio de Janeiro left at least 21 dead, one year after the deadliest operation in the history of the city, with 28 deceased in another poor neighborhood.
According to the latest official balance, the number of deaths in the favela Vila Cruzeiro, in the north of Rio, already rises to 22.
The operation, which lasted about 12 hours and caused the closure of schools and other public services, intended to capture leaders of the drug gang “Comando Vermelho” (red command), hidden in the neighborhood, according to the Military Police (PM) of Rio.
“The criminal faction that controls the region usually carries out invasions in other areas and we had signs that this group would move through the city
“, detail there at a press conference Uirá Ferreira, commander of the Rio Police Special Operations Battalion, which acted in conjunction with the Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police.
OPERAÇÃO NA VILA CRUZEIRO | The Federal Public Ministry opened a criminal investigation to investigate the conduct of federal agents during operations like Bope in Vila Cruzeiro, in the North Zone of Rio. At least 21 pessoas morreram, among them, a resident: https://t.co/AeaVUYYAhk pic.twitter.com/gHv2zKqf5b
— Jornal O Globo (@JornalOGlobo) May 24, 1970
Shot at
The agents assure that they were shot at by criminals in the upper part of the favela when they were preparing to start the operation, before dawn.
Initially, the PM had noticed 12 dead -12 of them “criminals” -, but the number quickly exceeded twenty after bodies were found in an area of closed vegetation, where the clashes occurred.
Also n A neighbor from a nearby neighborhood died from a stray bullet and seven other people were injured.
Tension outside the hospital
Throughout the day, the bodies arrived at a nearby hospital loaded in vans or other private vehicles, some with their heads covered with bags, in a climate of tension.
Groups of relatives and friends, mostly women, gathered at the entrance from the medical center. “You killed him, sons of…”, shouted a young woman who could barely contain her rage and pain.
“It is a shocking situation, we cannot normalize that the State enters a favela and leaves more than 13 bodies“, David dos Santos, from
told AFP. years old, who lives in the region.
The agents seized 13 rifles, 12 grenades, four pistols and an undetermined amount of drugs, in addition to 20 motorcycles and 21 cars supposedly belonging to the gang.
The Comando Vermelho, which has spread terror since the end of the decade of 1970, is responsible for “more than 80% of the armed clashes in Rio“, according to Ivan Blaz, spokesman for the Rio de Janeiro Military Police.
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