Rio Megaoperation Leaves 121 Dead as Court Demands Answers and Joint Anti-Crime Office Is Announced

Overview

• The official toll reached 121 deaths, including four police officers, after residents recovered bodies from the Vacaria wooded area and brought them to Praça São Lucas for identification.
• STF Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Governor Cláudio Castro and state police chiefs to provide detailed reports on the operation under ADPF 635.
• Authorities reported about 113 detentions and more than 100 seized weapons, with arrests that included Thiago “Belão” do Nascimento Mendes and financial operator Nicolas Fernandes Soares, while Doca remains at large.
• Police leaders described a planned “muro do Bope” tactic to push armed suspects into forested high ground to reduce risk to residents, claiming the dead were traffickers engaged in confrontation.
• The military police secretary acknowledged potential gaps in body‑camera recordings due to battery limits, the Fórum Brasileiro de Segurança Pública condemned failures to preserve scenes, and a federal–state emergency coordination office was announced.