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Rio police raids kill at least 132, corpses line street

29 October 2025 23:17 (UTC +04:00)

The deadliest police operation in Brazil's history killed at least 132 people, public defenders said on Wednesday, as Rio de Janeiro residents lined a street with dozens of corpses found overnight, a week ahead of global climate events in the city, APA reports citing Reuters.

State police said the raids targeting a major drug gang the day before had been planned exhaustively for more than two months, designed to drive suspects into a forested hillside where a special operations unit was waiting in ambush.

"The elevated lethality of the operation was expected but not desired," Victor Santos, head of security for Rio state, told a news conference. Rio police officials confirmed 119 deaths so far, including four police officers.

Santos said there was no connection to global events Rio will host next week related to the United Nations COP30 climate summit, including the C40 global summit of mayors tackling climate change and British Prince William's Earthshot Prize.