RIO DE JANEIRO: Residents of a favela in Rio de Janeiro lined up more than 40 bodies at a plaza in their low-income neighborhood on Wednesday, a day after the bloodiest police operation in the city’s history, AFP reported.
The corpses were placed near one of the main roads in the Penha Complex. But there was no official confirmation yet about whether they were among the 60 suspected members of a drug gang who were killed during Tuesday’s massive counter-narcotics operation in two favelas in northern Rio.
Four police officers were also slain during the operation, which involved 2,500 officers. It targeted the Comando Vermelho, Rio’s main criminal organization, which operates in the favelas — densely populated, working-class neighborhoods.
Authorities said that “60 criminals” had been killed in fighting that unfolded during the drug raids in the Penha Complex and the Alemao Complex, located near Rio’s international airport.
The huge number of police officers who took part in the operation were backed by armored vehicles, helicopters and drones, as the streets of the favelas saw war-like scenes.
