At least eight dead in deadly favela raid by Brazilian police | Crime news

Brazilian police say the attack in Rio de Janeiro targeted the leader of the powerful criminal group Red Command.

At least eight people have been killed during a police raid on a neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro, continuing a trend of deadly operations in poor favela communities.

Brazilian police officials said Wednesday’s attack killed Claudio Augusto dos Santos, commander of the powerful criminal group Commando Vermelho, or Red Command.

Military police chief Marcelo Menezes Nogueira said the attack led to a “major armed conflict”. Dos Santos and six other suspected criminals were reportedly killed and caught in the crossfire after taking a local resident hostage.

Local witnesses described that individuals associated with the Red Command retaliated against the attack by blocking roads and setting a bus on fire.

“They got on, told me to get off the passengers, and set fire to the bus. It happened very quickly,” bus driver Marcio Souza told news service AFP.

Five people have been arrested on charges of vandalism, police said. Around 150 military police officers participated in the raid in areas such as Prajeres, Fallet, Fogateiro, Coroa, Escondido and Paula Ramos.

Dos Santos was linked to drug trafficking in the Prajeres favela and had 10 warrants for his arrest, according to media reports. Police have accused dos Santos of involvement in the killing of Italian tourist Roberto Bardella.

Wednesday’s operation comes months after an October police raid killed more than 130 people in the Rio favela of Complexo da Penha, raising questions about the methods of state security forces.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the attack as a massacre.

Some politicians on Brazil’s left criticized Wednesday’s attack as a continuation of a trend of reckless clashes between police and organized crime.

“Another day of fear and dread in Rio de Janeiro,” Rio de Janeiro state deputy Renata da Silva Souza wrote online.

“This is a testament to the police’s lack of preparedness – an operation in Moro dos Prajeres without planning for the inevitable response. The result was entirely predictable: the local population caught in the crossfire, roads blocked and buses set on fire.”

Souza said he has filed a formal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office seeking accountability for the disruption to civilian life and the high death toll.

Politicians on Brazil’s right, meanwhile, have called for more force to be used against criminals in the country.

Rio de Janeiro Governor Claudio Castro posted on social media, “It is truly outrageous that these criminals impose on those who have absolutely nothing to do with their activities.

“The state cannot take a single step back due to such heinous acts. We stand firmly with the police and law-abiding citizens.”

Media reports have indicated that the Brazilian government is currently trying to block United States President Donald Trump from labeling groups like the Red Command as “foreign terrorist organizations”, a term previously used to identify groups that threaten US national security.

But increasingly, the Trump administration has applied the label to criminal networks and drug cartels across Latin America, putting them in the same category as organizations like al-Qaeda.

Critics have warned that the “foreign terrorist organization” label has been used to encourage military action against criminal groups across Latin America.