Four people died
At least four people died today during a police operation in the Santa Marta favela, in the south zone of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, leaving more than 50 tourists stranded at a viewpoint located at the top of the community.
The exchange of gunfire began shortly after 4 a.m. local time (7 a.m. in Lisbon), when police officers entered the favela to execute dozens of arrest and search warrants against suspects linked to Comando Vermelho, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Brazil, according to a statement from the Civil Police.
The authorities identified “members responsible for the logistics of drug trafficking, division of functions and maintenance of armed territorial control in the community” located in the famous neighborhood of Botafogo, the statement reads.
The tourists had gone up to the Dona Marta viewpoint to watch the sunrise and were forced to take refuge on the ground while bursts of gunfire and explosions were heard nearby, according to local press.
The images were taken by a photographer who accompanied the group and who shared the video on social media.
“It looked like a war, with grenades being thrown. The tourists and guides had to lie down on the ground, it was very scary, desperate. I’m still shaking. It’s a feeling of panic and helplessness, something really very aggressive. It was a lot of shooting, a lot of shooting,” said photographer Ari Kaye, quoted by the G1 portal.
During the operation, a passenger on a bus traveling on the main access road to the favela was injured in the leg by a stray bullet.
The Santa Marta favela viewpoint is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Rio de Janeiro for its panoramic views of Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain and Guanabara Bay.
The police action is part of Operation Containment, which seeks to halt the territorial expansion of Comando Vermelho, an organization created in Rio de Janeiro prisons in the 1970s and which currently has branches in most Brazilian states and some neighboring countries.
The first phase of this operation, carried out at the end of October 2025 in the Penha and Alemão favela complexes, was the deadliest in the history of Rio de Janeiro, with a death toll of 122 people, including five police officers.
According to data from the Civil Police, since the beginning of the offensive, more than 360 people have been arrested, another 137 died in clashes and around 480 firearms were seized, including 190 automatic rifles, in addition to more than 51 thousand rounds of ammunition.
