Police raid on Brazil favela leaves nearly a dozen dead

A police raid on a favela close to Rio de Janeiro state has left not less than 11 individuals useless, together with the suspected chief of against the law gang lively within the north of Brazil, native media reported.

Civil police confirmed {that a} raid was “still active” within the Salgueiro Complex in Sao Goncalo on Thursday, a part of the Rio metropolitan area.

The goal of the raid was “the capture of members of the Comando Vermelho [gang] from the [northern] state of Para who took refuge in the district,” a police assertion stated.

Comando Vermelho is one among Brazil’s oldest and largest crime gangs, focusing closely on drug trafficking.

Upon arriving within the favela, “police were attacked by criminals,” resulting in “an intense firefight,” civil police stated.

The governor of Para state, Helder Barbalho, stated on Twitter, “Leonardo Araujo, known as ‘L41,’ fugitive, died in a clash with security agents. He was the main leader of the biggest crime organisation that operates in Para, and that also ordered various attacks in RJ,” or Rio de Janeiro.

And Rio state governor Claudio Castro tweeted that “two criminals who controlled criminal gangs in [the northeastern state of] Sergipe and Para were captured,” referencing Thursday’s arrest and one other operation within the northern a part of town.

In addition to the 11 useless, two girls, age 53 and 62, had been wounded within the clashes, the G1 news outlet stated.

Over 1,000 individuals killed in 2021

According to police, Thursday’s operation particularly focused people liable for a collection of assaults in opposition to public safety brokers in Para, through which 40 officers have been killed since 2021.

It was additionally launched to focus on gang leaders “involved in recent attacks” within the western a part of Rio, the place a number of vehicles had been set on fireplace on Wednesday.

Amnesty International Brazil slammed the Rio authorities, saying its actions had been “disastrously lethal” and a part of an “institutionalisation of the policy of extermination” within the Sao Goncalo space.

“How long does the black, marginalised population of the favelas have to withstand the policy of war that drives police in Rio?” the NGO tweeted.

More than 1,300 individuals had been killed by the hands of police in Rio de Janeiro state in 2021, in accordance with the Violence Monitor information challenge.

Source: AFP