Today, Rio de Janeiro’s most lethal police operation on record brings law enforcement strategy into question. Health Minister Queiroga infuriates Covid inquiry with evasive deposition. Reservoirs in trouble as rainfall hits 91-year low.
Deadliest police operation shows failures to curb state violence
A drug bust in Jacarezinho, a favela in northern Rio de Janeiro, ended with 25 dead — including one police officer — in what was the “most lethal” law enforcement operation in the city’s history. Public security experts called it a disaster, not only for the sheer amount of violence, but also for intelligence shortcomings.
Leak. Upon arresting five suspects at a home in Jacarezinho, the police found an official report detailing the operation. That suggests a leak and would explain why the raid turned into a scene of urban warfare, with residents reporting multiple shootings, grenades being thrown on the streets, and police helicopters shooting at will from the air.
- Jacarezinho is a known stronghold of the Red Command organized crime group, and suspects were prepared for the raid, setting up blockades which resulted in the death of one civil police officer.
Why it matters. The operation went ahead despite a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that limited police...