🔗 Share this article The victims kept arriving - eyewitness describes lethal Rio police raid The photographer Numerous victims were laid out in an open area in northern Rio in the wake of the most lethal operation Rio has ever seen A photographer who observed the results of a large-scale security raid in the metropolitan area has recounted how residents brought back mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives. The victims "continued arriving: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan reported. Among them were law enforcement personnel. One of the bodies was found without a head - others were "totally disfigured", he said. Many also had evidence of knife injuries. More than 120 people were killed during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced. In excess of 100 suspects were detained in connection with the operation The eyewitness stated that he was first alerted concerning the action Tuesday morning by local people from the Alemão area, who sent him messages alerting him an armed confrontation was occurring. The reporter made his way to a local medical facility, where the bodies were arriving. The photographer stated that law enforcement prevented journalists from going into the operation zone, where the police action were occurring. "Security forces established a perimeter and said: 'Media representatives are not allowed to pass'." But Itan, who was raised in that neighborhood, explained he managed to gain access into the cordoned-off area, where he remained through the night. He described that evening, community members began to search the mountainous area that separates the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for loved ones who had been missing following the security action. Community members of the Penha neighbourhood organized the located casualties in an open area - and Itan's photos show the reaction of the gathered crowd. "The brutality of it all affected me deeply: the sorrow of the families, parents losing consciousness, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the eyewitness remembered. Bruno Itan There was trauma in Penha as residents retrieved increasing numbers of casualties from the nearby hillside The state leader of the region announced that the extensive law enforcement effort involving around 2,500 security personnel was intended to preventing an illegal organization called Comando Vermelho from growing their influence. At first, the Rio state government maintained that sixty alleged criminals plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the raid. They have since said that initial estimates suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives. Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has put the total number of fatalities to be 132. According to researchers, Red Command is the only criminal group which in recent years has succeeded to expand its territory across the region. It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs in the country, alongside another major gang, and has a history spanning over five decades. According to correspondent Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio for years, Red Command "functions as a network" with area gang leaders joining the organization and becoming "commercial associates". The organization engages primarily in illegal drug trade, additionally trafficking firearms, valuable minerals, fuel, liquor cigarettes. Based on official reports, criminal affiliates have substantial firearms and police said that during the raid, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives. The governor of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, labeled gang affiliates as drug terrorists and described the security forces fatally injured in the action as "heroes". Nevertheless, the total of fatalities during the raid has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities saying it was "shocked". During a press briefing the next day, the official supported law enforcement. "It wasn't our intention to cause fatalities. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he stated. He further explained that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals fought back: "It occurred of the counterattack they carried out and the disproportionate use of force from the gang members." The governor also said that the bodies presented by community members in the area had been "tampered with". Via a statement on social media, he claimed that some of them had been stripped of military-style attire which he claimed they wore "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement". Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force further reported that tactical gear, protective equipment, and arms" were stripped from the bodies and displayed evidence appearing to show a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse