At least 64 people died – four of them agents – and 81 others were arrested, this Tuesday, in a mega operation against the criminal group Comando Vermelho (CV) in the Alemão and Penha complexes, in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Drug traffickers responded by firing shots and setting up burning barricades made from stolen vehicles and rubble, TV Globo reported.
The governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro criticized the lack of support from the Federal Government against criminal organizations. At a press conference, Cláudio Castro classified the operation as “the biggest” ever carried out against the CV and said that Rio “is alone in this war”. This group was created in 1979 in Rio de Janeiro prisons and is today one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the world.
“Today’s operation has very little to do with Public Security. It is a State of Defense operation. It is a war that is going beyond the limits, which has nothing to do with urban security”, defended the governor. “We should have greater support, even from the Armed Forces.”
“We do not have the assistance of armored vehicles or agents of federal forces, neither security nor defense”, criticized Castro. The CV retaliated, in the early afternoon, with a ‘drone’ attack, according to a new report from the Rio government.
Permanent operation of the state government
At stake is another stage of Operation Containment, a permanent initiative by the state government against the advance of the CV. Castro told journalists that the dead included two police officers and clarified that the action, which began early in the morning, continues. To arrest criminal leaders in Rio and other states, around 2,500 agents were mobilized, with the aim of executing 100 arrest warrants and 150 search and seizure warrants.
The Rio government showed a video of the operations which shows the use of ‘drones’ to drop bombs on authorities. According to the local press, CV members erected barricades in the favelas to try to prevent security forces from entering.
Among the dead suspects is one of the main leaders of the criminal group. The other fatal victims are from the CV. Nine officers were shot, two of whom died, and three civilians were also hit.
Seized rifles
81 people were detained, five of whom were injured and hospitalized. One of those arrested is Thiago do Nascimento Mendes, also known as “Belão do Quitungo”, one of the heads of the CV in the region. Another captured is Nicolas Fernandes Soares, appointed as a financial operator for one of the CV’s top bosses, Edgar Alves de Andrade, the “Doca” or “Bear”.
Authorities seized 31 rifles, for exclusive use by the Armed Forces, two pistols and nine motorcycles. At least 45 schools closed, five clinics suspended services and 12 buses diverted from their route, according to the Brazilian press.
“I ask residents of the region to remain at home while the security forces operate”, appealed the governor. Rio’s Public Security Secretary, Victor Santos, stated that the operation was designed in advance. There are approximately nine million square meters of disorder”, he stressed, in an area where 280 thousand people live. “This is a necessary, planned, intelligent action, and it will continue”, stated the secretary.
Several police bodies involved
This Tuesday’s action, in which the Rio Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPRJ) participates, was triggered after a year of investigation by the Narcotics Repression Police Station. At least 30 of those wanted are from Pará, according to TV Globo.
The operation involves military police from the Special Operations Command (COE) and operational units of the Military Police of the city of Rio de Janeiro and the metropolitan region, in addition to the Civil Police. Helicopters, armored vehicles and demolition vehicles were used, as well as ambulances.
According to Rio prosecutors, the Penha complex, historically a strategic point for the flow of drugs and weapons — especially because it is located close to highways — has become one of the main bases for CV expansion in the Jacarepaguá region. According to the authorities, cited by television, the group’s leaders “issue orders on the sale of drugs, determine the schedules of criminals in the tobacco outlets and monitoring points and order the executions of individuals who go against their interests”.
Article updated at 8:55 pm