Overview
- Rio authorities say 121 people were killed in the large-scale operation targeting the Comando Vermelho, while Brazil’s Public Defender reports 132 fatalities.
- HRW alleges police failed to preserve crime scenes or maintain chain of custody for evidence, and a state prosecutor voiced similar concerns.
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promulgated a law increasing protections for security agents and tougher penalties for obstruction, alongside an emergency office to coordinate operations against organized crime.
- Argentine officials detained three Brazilian nationals in Alba Posse for entering through an unauthorized crossing and ordered their expulsion; two have narcotics records and none had Interpol alerts as investigators probe possible Comando Vermelho links.
- A separate firefight on Rio’s Linha Amarela left passenger Bárbara Elisa Yabeta Borges dead and others injured as police recovered a rifle and opened an investigation.