War-like chaos in Rio – 64 killed as 2,500 cops storm favelas. What sparked Brazil’s deadliest raid?

Bodies piled up in the streets of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday as Brazil witnessed its deadliest police operation in history. At least 64 people were killed, including four police officers, after 2,500 heavily armed security personnel stormed two of the city’s most notorious favelas (slums) in a sweeping crackdown on drug gangs.

The unprecedented scale of the raid in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro — backed by helicopters, armoured vehicles, and drones — plunged parts of the city into chaos and reignited fierce debate about police brutality, state policy, and human rights in Brazil.

Why did police launch such a massive operation?

State Governor Claudio Castro described the mission across the Complexo da Penha and Complexo do Alemão neighbourhoods as “the largest in the state’s history.”

The central government said the raids targeted Comando Vermelho (Red Command), a powerful drug-trafficking syndicate that authorities claim was attempting to expand its influence across Rio.

“This is how the Rio police are treated by criminals: with bombs dropped by drones. This is the scale of the challenge we face. This is not ordinary crime, but narcoterrorism,” Castro wrote on X, sharing a video that appeared to show a gang-operated drone dropping a projectile.

What happened on the ground in Brazil's Rio?

Gunfire echoed across northern Rio near the international airport, while thick smoke billowed from fires set during the clashes.

Residents ran for cover as shops shuttered and traffic ground to a halt on major roads.

AFP reporters on the scene described “war-like” conditions, with police in Vila Cruzeiro guarding about 20 young detainees sitting barefoot and shirtless on a pavement, their heads bowed.

“This is the first time we’ve seen drones (from criminals) dropping bombs in the community,” said one resident of Penha, speaking anonymously. “Everyone is terrified because there’s so much gunfire.”

According to state officials, police killed 60 suspected gang members. The death toll far exceeds the previous record set in 2021, when a raid left 28 people dead.

How did Rio residents react?

For many locals, the operation brought the city to a standstill.

“We’re left without buses, without anything, in this chaos and not knowing what to do,” said Regina Pinheiro, a 70-year-old retiree trying to return home amid blocked streets and halted public transport.

Police deployed 32 armoured vehicles, 12 demolition units, and two helicopters, used to clear barricades erected by traffickers in the narrow alleyways of the favelas.

What are critics and human rights groups saying?

The violence has sparked condemnation both in Brazil and abroad.

Congressman Henrique Vieira, an evangelical pastor, accused authorities of dehumanising Rio’s poorest communities.

The state government, he said, “treats the favela as enemy territory, with a licence to shoot and kill.”

In Geneva, the United Nations human rights office said it was “horrified” by the bloodshed.

“This deadly operation furthers the trend of extreme lethal consequences of police operations in Brazil’s marginalised communities,” it said in a statement, urging “prompt and effective investigations.”

The Human Rights Commission of the Rio State Legislative Assembly also vowed to demand accountability.

“We will ask for explanations of the circumstances of the action, which has once again transformed Rio’s favelas into a theatre of war and barbarism,” said Dani Monteiro, the commission’s president.

What does this say about Brazil’s ongoing security crisis?

Experts and rights organisations have long argued that Rio’s heavy-handed policing does little to dismantle entrenched criminal networks. Nearly 700 people were killed in police operations in the city last year — almost two per day — according to state data.

While authorities insist such actions are necessary to combat “narcoterrorism,” critics say they only deepen mistrust between residents and law enforcement, turning the favelas into what many now describe as Brazil’s perpetual war zone.