Police officer among 25 killed in Rio raid

AT LEAST 25 people, including a police officer, were killed in a shootout during a raid on drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro yesterday, according to civil police.

The toll was the highest ever from a police raid in the Brazilian city, which has for decades suffered from narcoticsrelated violence.

“This is the highest number of deaths in a police operation in Rio, surpassing 19 in Complexo do Alemão in 2007,” Ronaldo Oliveira, the chief of police, said.

“Only in that one we didn’t lose anyone. Now, a police officer has died, which is a great loss for us.”

Two passengers on a metro train were also wounded in the crossfire in Jacarezinho, a northern area of the city, according to the fire brigade, but were not seriously hurt.

Jacarezinho is a poor neighbourhood with few public services, known as a favela.

The sting targeted drug dealers accused of recruiting minors, police said in a statement.

The neighbourhood is considered to be a base for the Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, the beach city’s biggest drug gang.

Aerial television footage showed suspects fleeing the police by jumping between rooftops in search of an escape route, while police officers had to get out of armoured vehicles to pass barricades erected in the streets.

According to police, helicopters located the gang’s headquarters in Jacarezinho and at least 10 suspects were arrested. Police sources said that gang leaders were probably among the dead.

The operation came despite a ruling by the Supreme Court that barred police from carrying out raids in Brazil’s impoverished favelas during the pandemic except in “absolutely exceptional circumstances”.