Despite the unprecedented tactic, which resulted in the deadliest operation in the history of Brazil, the main leader of Comando Vermelho managed to break through the siege and escape
The death toll was still half as high and it was already considered the deadliest police operation in the history of Brazil. Code-named “Containment”, more than 2,500 civil and military police surrounded and fought one of the largest criminal factions in Latin America on its own territory. Despite the trail of death and destruction – 132 people have lost their lives so far – the main target of the operation managed to escape the authorities.
The mega-operation was conducted by Rio de Janeiro’s civil and military police with a focus on two favelas controlled by the criminal organization Comando Vermelho, Complexo do Alemão and Complexo da Penha, in the northern region of the city. More than 2,500 police officers participated in the operation, which resulted from more than a year of criminal investigation, but which was planned “from one day to the next”, unlike previous operations, such as the one in 2010, which had the support of the Armed Forces. This fact may have been crucial for the authorities to achieve the surprise effect.
“Today it is very difficult to have the surprise factor, drug traffickers have cameras controlling all the entrances to the favela and drones flying over 24 hours a day. The surprise factor is impossible”, explains Colonel Fernando G. Montenegro to CNN Portugal.
According to the Public Security Secretariat, the main objective was to combat the territorial expansion of the criminal group and execute 100 arrest warrants against members and leaders of Comando Vermelho. Among the targets, 30 would be members of the faction from other states, especially Pará, who would be hiding in these communities. The result was the highest number of deaths in a police operation in the country’s history, surpassing the Carandiru prison massacre, when a group of prisoners rioted in 1992.
Among those killed in the police operation against Comando Vermelho were four police officers, including two members of the Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE). Most of the 128 dead outside the authorities were found in a forested region, at the top of the Penha Complex, where the police ambushed a large number of criminals.
In addition to the high casualties, the police arrested 113 people, in addition to 10 minors, including 33 suspects from other states. The number of weapons seized was also surprising, with 91 machine guns, 26 pistols, a revolver and 14 explosive devices found by authorities.
The high number of victims is due to a strategy set up by the security forces that they themselves dubbed the “BOPE Wall”. The strategy involved moving the group members as far away from populated areas as possible, quickly pushing the group to the top of the complex, towards the forest area, which was the criminals’ escape route. In the middle of the trees were BOPE police officers, who shot at everyone who tried to escape. Residents of Complexo da Penha claim to have found 71 bodies in the area.
Images from police drones show a large number of criminals escaping into the woods, dressed in camouflage uniforms and a large amount of weapons.
The Secretary of Public Security, Victor Santos, states that the operation was a success, as it managed to have “very little collateral damage”, with few civilians being killed or injured. “The victims are the four innocent people who were shot and the four police officers who died,” he said.
But the main objective of the operation escaped. The police hoped to capture Edgar Alves de Andrade, known as Doca da Penha, the main leader of Comando Vermelho. Also known as Urso, the drug dealer, who dominates a region made up of 13 favelas, is being investigated for 329 crimes, 112 of which are homicides. He is also suspected of drug trafficking, criminal organization, torture, extortion, corruption of minors and hiding a corpse. In total, he has 34 arrest warrants and a reward for information of 100 thousand reais (around 16 thousand euros). The drug dealer was able to escape from Complexo da Penha escorted by a group of 70 criminals.
Together with some trusted men, Doca headed the infamous “Trafficking Court”, responsible for the execution of civilians and rivals of the criminal faction, throughout the city. Although Doca managed to escape, his right-hand man was not as lucky. Brazilian police managed to capture Thiago do Nascimento Mendes, better known as Belão, one of the main leaders of Comando Vermelho, who is considered the group’s main financial operator in Complexo da Penha.
“The priority must be to dismantle the economic power that sustains it”, explained the security secretary of Rio de Janeiro. “Because when we focus on the leader and he is arrested or killed, the next day a number two appears and life goes on, we want to take away their income and not create a symbol of crime.”
Comando Vermelho is one of the oldest Brazilian criminal groups. It was created inside a prison, during the military dictatorship, in the 70s, with the aim of combating torture and ill-treatment suffered by prisoners. But the group quickly expanded outside of prisons and discovered cocaine trafficking as an important source of revenue.
Today the faction has characteristics that resemble known mafia schemes, due to its dominance of the production chain of most of the illegal activities in which it operates. The group’s main sources of income are drug trafficking, but recently, Comando Vermelho has been finding different ways to obtain income. In particular, the criminal faction became known for its “armed territorial control”, in which it forces residents of the areas it controls to opt for services and suppliers chosen by the group.
A study carried out by the Brazilian Public Security Forum in February 2025 revealed that cocaine trafficking is no longer the activity that generates the most money for organized crime in Brazil. The investigation shows that activities such as the irregular sale of fuel, gold, cigarettes and alcohol are more profitable.
This “ultracapitalization” of criminal factions is seen by the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Flávio Dino, as the root of the chaos in Rio de Janeiro. “Gone are the days when criminal factions in Brazil lived solely on the illegal market”, said Dino, who today classifies them as “large mining operators, in the real estate and fuel markets”.
This financial power allows infiltration into the State, a problem that, according to Colonel Fernando G. Montenegro, transforms the faction’s territory into an “enclave of micro-sovereignty” – a mini-country that defends its autonomy. The colonel points the finger at the fragility of the system: “Rio de Janeiro has the police that arrests the most, but the justice system that releases the most. There are seven judges investigated for selling sentences.”
