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Eight Dead in Rio Police Raids That Kill Red Command Leader

Police plan a sustained presence in the favelas to consolidate gains against Red Command.

Firefighters work to extinguish a bus fire that was set ablaze by drug traffickers during a police operation in the Morro dos Prazeres community in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Military police patrol during a police operation in the Morro dos Prazeres community in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Military police patrol during a police operation in the Morro dos Prazeres community in Rio de Janeiro, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Rio de Janeiro has long battled territorial control by criminal factions and residents are weary of violence and chronic insecurity

Overview

  • About 150 BOPE officers backed by armored vehicles swept several Santa Teresa communities, seizing rifles, pistols and revolvers.
  • Military police chief Marcelo Menezes Nogueira identified the dead leader as Claudio Augusto dos Santos, 55, who faced multiple arrest warrants and more than 100 criminal charges.
  • Six other suspected traffickers were killed, and a resident taken hostage died in the exchange of fire while his partner was rescued.
  • Retaliation in downtown Rio included a torched bus and road barricades, with police reporting several arrests and vowing to remain deployed in the area.
  • The raids coincided with a separate operation across 15 states targeting drug and arms networks and with Brasília resisting reported U.S. consideration of terrorist designations for Red Command and PCC.