Five dead in a police operation against drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro.- Five people died and six others were arrested this Tuesday during an operation against drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro, official sources reported. The events occurred in the Complexo do Chapadão, a group of favelas in the north of the city where the authorities aimed to reduce the actions of organized crime in the region, mainly the control of drug trafficking, according to the Police statement. For this purpose, the agents removed barricades placed by the criminals to prevent the entry of the security forces.

During the actions, five suspects were injured and taken to a nearby hospital “but they did not survive“.

The agents seized three rifles, a pistol, and an as-yet-uncounted amount of drugs.

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According to the Police, in the course of 2026, 324 rifles have been seized, of which “a large part” are of foreign manufacture, “mainly from the United States“.

In October of last year, a police action in the favela complexes of Penha and Alemão against members of the Comando Vermelho, one of the largest criminal organizations in the country, ended with 122 deaths, including five police officers, in what was the deadliest police operation in Brazil to date.