San Francisco Frontiers - What we do and don't know about Rio's deadly police raid

The official death toll stands at 119, including four police officers, after a massive operation that again exposed the violent underbelly far from the city's tourist attractions.

This is what we know, and don't know:

– Target: Comando Vermelho –

The operation, dubbed Operation Containment, aimed to weaken the Comando Vermelho (Red Command), Rio's oldest and most powerful criminal group that has expanded rapidly in recent years, according to authorities.

Some 2,500 heavily armed officers backed by armored vehicles, helicopters and drones on Tuesday invaded two key strongholds of the gang -- the sprawling Alemao and Penha favela complexes.

Comando Vermelho is one of at least four criminal factions vying for territorial power, who control some 20 percent of Rio's metropolitan region, according to the Fogo Cruzado watchdog.

It recently overtook the city's militias in terms of territorial control, but experts say the battle for dominance in the city is far from won.

Groups like Comando Vermelho have moved beyond drug trafficking by seizing control of valuable services to favelas like internet, water, electricity and transport -- making territory synonymous with revenue.

– Dead and detained –

The Rio state government reported 119 dead, while the public defender's office told AFP it had counted 132.

Authorities also said 113 people had been detained, including 10 minors, and that 91 rifles were seized.

A "large quantity" of drugs was confiscated, Governor Claudio Castro said Tuesday, without giving details on the type or amount.

– Historically lethal raid –

The operation was Brazil's most lethal to date, surpassing the 1992 Carandiru prison massacre in Sao Paulo, which left 111 inmates dead when military police stormed in to stop a riot.

In Rio, the second- and third-deadliest police raids took place in 2021 and 2022, in Jacarezinho and Vila Cruzeiro, killing 28 and 25 people respectively.

Both occurred under the same conservative governor, Claudio Castro.

– Lula out of the loop –

The raid was planned and carried out by the Rio de Janeiro state government under Castro, an ally of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro.

It took place "without the knowledge of the federal government," Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski said Wednesday.

Lula stoked anger last week when he said while on a trip to Indonesia that drug traffickers "are also victims of the users," when commenting on the United States' actions against narcotraffickers in Venezuela.

He later said on X that this had been a "poorly-worded phrase" and "we will remain firm in confronting drug trafficking and organized crime."

– Unanswered questions –

The identities of those killed have not been released, making it unclear whether they were among the suspects sought under judicial warrants.

It is also not clear how important the victims and arrested suspects were to Comando Vermelho's hierarchy.

Brazilian media reported that one of those arrested was Thiago do Nascimento Mendes, an alleged lieutenant of suspected local leader Edgard Alves de Andrade, who managed to escape.

After residents accused police of carrying out "executions," Brazil's prosecutor's office asked Governor Castro for details of the operation to determine whether officers acted within the law.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an "immediate investigation" into the events.

C.Williams--SFF