Brazilian Military Police confirms 18 dead in police anti-crime operation in Rio de Janeiro

Brazil’s Civil Police confirmed Thursday that at least 18 people have been killed during a police operation against organized crime in the Alemao favela in northern Rio de Janeiro.

Police spokesman Ivan Blaz reported that the victims include a 50-year-old woman, a military policeman and “16 criminals,” as reported by ‘O Globo’.

“The situation in the region as a whole remains quite tense,” Blaz has indicated.

Thus, he explained that it was an operation “that was necessary due to the criminal actions that the marginalized of this community have been carrying out in different points of the state of Rio de Janeiro”, adding that the traffickers “have greatly diversified their criminal activities, also carrying out robberies”.

Relatives of the woman who died after a bullet hit while riding in her vehicle have denounced her death: “when leaving there was a policeman at a traffic light, we stopped. Even so, the car was shot”.

Likewise, police sources have reported that a machine gun, four rifles and two pistols have been confiscated.

The operation involved 400 agents from the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE), members of the Military Police and the Coordination of Special Resources (Core) of the Civil Police and used four helicopters and ten vehicles.

Rio governor Cláudio Castro has posted on Twitter that he wants criminals involved in violent actions during a police operation in Complexo de Alemao to be taken to federal prisons.