Bope Commander Contradicts Rio Governor Over 'Muro do Bope' Tactic

Overview

• Bope chief Marcelo Corbage told the Rio state prosecutor’s office that his unit did not pre-position in the Serra da Misericórdia as a ‘troia’ and instead formed a containment line after an ambush by traffickers.
• Corbage said criminals were entrenched in bunkers and that drone images showed an orderly move to set a trap that drew civil police into the forested area.
• Senior officials André Luiz de Souza Neves, Fabrício Oliveira, Ranulfo Souza Brandão Filho and PM captain Jansen Ferret echoed that there was no state-organized ambush and corroborated the account of a trafficker-led trap.
• Governor Cláudio Castro had publicly claimed the plan was to confine confrontations to the forest to reduce harm to residents, a portrayal Corbage disputed in his deposition.
• Families and the state public defender allege police executions and say they were blocked from body identifications, with reports of stab wounds and one decapitation, as inquiries continue into a death toll reported by ISTOÉ as 121 and the deaths of two Bope officers during rescue efforts.