The death toll from the massive police operation against drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro rises to over 120.

BarcelonaThe joint operation by civilian and military forces in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which took place this Tuesday in the city's capital, has resulted in at least 121 deaths – four of them police officers – according to official figures. However, the O Globo network is already reporting 134. The number of fatalities has at least doubled compared to the official figures provided yesterday by the authorities, after more than seventy bodies were lined up this Wednesday in a square in the Penha favela neighborhood, one of the two areas where more than 20 members of the security forces were killed. Despite the brutality of the intervention, considered the deadliest in the city's history due to the enormous cost in human lives, the state governor, Cláudio Castro, has called the mega-operation in Penha and Alemão, the other favela complex where security forces also engaged in bloodshed, a "success." According to Castro, the clashes occurred in wooded areas, which—he argued—proves that there were no civilians among the victims. What the governor has not clarified is why the initially announced death toll of 64 has not been modified, at least for the moment, nor has he commented on the more than 70 bodies that residents have piled up in Penha. Castro has defended his handling of the victim count and stated that only bodies arriving at the Institute of Legal Medicine are considered official victims. This avoids "a war of numbers," he said. In fact, the exact number of victims will take time to be known, which explains the difference between the official figures (121) and those reported by the media.

In parallel, the leader, a member of the Social Christian Party, has accused the federal government, led by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party, of a lack of support in the fight against organized crime, and has warned that he will not allow the situation to become a "political battle." Castro asserted that other governors had congratulated him on the operation and argued that it could mark "the beginning of a great process in Brazil," words that suggest a struggle like Bukele's in El Salvador, that does not respect human rights. He also reiterated that public safety is, in his view, "the country's main problem," and that Rio de Janeiro "will not shirk its responsibility" in this battle.

The police action aimed to curb the expansion of the Comando Vermelho (CV) drug trafficking group, which operates from Alemão and Penha. These two complexes form a continuous urban area of this type of construction between the districts of Bonsucesso and Penha Circular. In total, they have a combined population of approximately 250,000 inhabitants and are located in the northeast of the city. Not all analysts applaud the strategy. In some sectors, the operation has drawn criticism for the high number of victims and the way in which it was carried out. Activists and opposition politicians have called the intervention a "state-sponsored massacre" and warn that the root causes of the problem—poverty, lack of infrastructure, and prolonged absence of state presence—cannot be addressed solely through police interventions and brute force. The scale of the operation also highlights the enormous problem of drug trafficking and paramilitary groups in Brazil. According to official reports, the state of Rio de Janeiro has recorded one of the highest rates of deaths resulting from police intervention, fueling the debate about the legitimacy, strategy, and effectiveness of the methods employed.

Determination or brutality?

The episode, in any case, could signal a turning point. The state government wants to present it as a show of strength and determination in the fight against drug traffickers. But the following question remains: will this police operation truly serve to stabilize security and restore authority among the vast favela communities? Or will it remain just another isolated incident of violence that fails to address the structural vulnerabilities fueling the cycle of extortion, trafficking, and repressive response?

The city of Rio de Janeiro, with approximately 6.8 million inhabitants, remains one of the areas most affected by street violence in Brazil. Around 23% of the population resides in favelas, where the presence of armed factions and police interventions are constant. In 2023 alone, more than a thousand homicides were recorded, with some 300 deaths attributed to police operations within the city limits. Most of the clashes are concentrated in the north and west, in the aforementioned Alemano and Peña complexes, where the struggle between gangs and police shapes daily life. At the state level, in 2024, nearly 700 deaths were recorded as a result of police interventions, a rate of about 4.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, and approximately 3,388 violent deaths in total, with a rate of 21.1 homicides per 100,000. Deaths from gunshot wounds during operations or armed confrontations numbered approximately 758, highlighting the magnitude of institutional violence and the consequences of a security policy heavily based on repression.