On October 28, local time, Rio de Janeiro state police launched a massive clearance operation against the country¡¯s second-largest drug trafficking group, the Red Command, in two poor communities in the north of Rio de Janeiro.

The crackdown, code-named ¡°Controlling Operation,¡± eventually evolved into the state¡¯s ¡°most deadly¡± police operation. By noon on October 29, Rio de Janeiro police confirmed 121 deaths. Although the Rio de Janeiro government called the operation ¡°the most severe strike the faction has ever suffered,¡± the operation¡¯s number one target, Doka, one of the gang¡¯s senior heads, escaped.

Residents carried out the bodies found and placed them on the street

Drug dealers drop bombs with drones

Police use surrounding tactics to move armored vehicles.

The Red Command is mainly engaged in drug and weapons trafficking, with its operations centered in Rio de Janeiro, controlling some of the city's slums, but its activities extend to much of Brazil, especially the Amazon region.

Director of Rio Civil PoliceFelipeCurry informed at a news conference on the 29th that the operation was launched on the basis of an investigation of more than a year. The investigation showed that the head of the ¡°Red Command¡± was remotely commanded by an instant messaging group, and the command included torture of residents.

Criminal Gardnar (right) tortures a man over a video call

As of the 29th, the official announcement included 121 deaths (117 suspects, 4 police officers), 113 arrests (including 33 from other states), 118 weapons seized, and more than 1 ton of drugs.

On October 28, Rio de Janeiro police arrested criminals during an anti-drug operation

The Rio government said on its social platform that the operation represented "the heaviest blow the faction has ever suffered."Civil Police Chief Curry also stressed: "This is the heaviest blow the Red Command has ever suffered, they have lost weapons and leadership."

The operation began in the early morning of the 28th, mobilizing about 2,500 police officers and armoured vehicles, helicopters and drones.

Marcelo de Menezes, chief of the Rio Military Police, revealed that police used a tactic called the "Wall of BOPE" during the operation. The main force of the police advanced and sealed off a mountainous area, surrounded the criminals and drove them into the forest area. Other teams of the Special Police Action Battalion (BOPE) had been pre-deployed in the forest area to wait for them.

On October 28, police signaled motorcycle riders to turn around during "Operation Containment" according to Vision China

The resistance of the Red Command was also unusually fierce.The government of Rio said on social media platforms that gangs used burning materials to build street barriers and used drones to throw bombs at police. Rio Governor Claudio Castro said it was not a ¡°ordinary crime¡± but ¡°drug terrorism.¡±

The Rio prosecutor's office pointed out that after a year of investigation, it was found that the Peña slum has become one of the main bases for the criminal organization's expansion plan, and because it is close to the highway, it has become a "strategic location for drug and weapons trafficking."

The leader used his younger brother as a "human wall" to escape

Gang crazy revenge, steals burned 50 buses and paralyzed cities

Despite Rio state's announcement of significant results, it was reported that the operation's top target, the street commander of the "Red Command", escaped. His name is Edgar Alves Andrade, nicknamed "Doka".

One of the heads of the ¡°Red Command¡± ¡°Doka¡± escaped

Director of Public Security of Rio, Victor Santos, explained why the arrest failed, saying that Doka used a strategy: ¡°He used his hand as another barrier (the wall) to hinder the police¡¯s advance and to make time for himself (the escape).¡±

The report noted that while ¡°Doka¡± was escaping, police managed to arrest his ¡°financial operator¡± Nicolas Fernandez Soares, along with another regional leader, during the operation.

On October 28, Rio de Janeiro police searched for a burned car.

In retaliation, according to the reference news quoted EFE, members of the "Red Command" stole and burned at least 50 buses as roadblocks in many places in Rio on the 28th, which once caused the city's traffic to be partially paralyzed, and the road leading to the international airport was also briefly blocked. The operation also led to the closure of about 50 schools, affecting about 200,000 residents.

Residents pulled 74 bodies out of the woods on the streets

Police: Clothes were stripped to cover up the identity of drug dealers

Early on the morning of the 29th, residents of poor districts entered the conflict-broken forest area themselves, claiming to have found ¡°at least 74 bodies¡± and carried them to the streets of the community. Rio Civil Police Director Felipe Curie noted that the bodies taken from the forest were ¡°worn off their clothes¡±. he believed that there were criminals or their associates who ¡°covered the relationship between bodies and drug trafficking¡± and destroyed gang clothes with bullets on the bodies, confusing audiences and suspected of ¡°impeding justice.¡±

According to the Global Times, this banditry campaign caused strong repercussions at home and abroad in Brazil. Claudio Castro, governor of Rio State, said in a public speech that the operation was "alone" without assistance from the federal government.

On October 29, firefighters transported the body found in the forest.

According to another report, Brazilian President Lula only learned about the matter on the morning of the 29th. Justice and Public Security Minister Lewandowski revealed that Lula was "shocked" by the huge death toll and "surprised" that the federal government had such a large-scale operation "without knowing it."

On the same day, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered Rio¡¯s governor, Claudio Castro, to be summoned to provide detailed information on the legality of the action, whether or not the camera was used and whether the rules of force were complied with.

On the 30th, in response to the legitimacy of the operation, the government of the state of Rio stressed on its social platform account that the operation complied with the Brazilian Supreme Court¡¯s ruling on the operation, in which ¡°the police used portable tracking cameras¡± and sent ambulances to support the operation.

Some suspects arrested in "Operation Containment" are waiting to be transferred According to Vision China

Lewandowski, Minister of Justice and Public Safety, said the operation was ¡°uncompromising¡± and stressed that fighting crime requires careful planning, intelligence collection and coordination between departments, and pledged to provide the necessary assistance to Rio.

Later on the 29th, Claudio Castro, Governor of Rio State, met with lewandowski, Minister of Justice and Public Security, and the two sides announced the establishment of an "emergency office" to achieve "100% integration" of federal and state intelligence.

Red Star journalist Deng Shuyi synthesized CCTV news, reference news, and Global Times