Brazilian police were today accused of gruesome brutality as part of a bloody gang crackdown before international heads of state and dignitaries arrive in the country for the COP30 Climate Summit.
Officers have been accused of beheading a teenage gangster and hanging his head from a tree after the country’s bloodiest-ever favela raid.
It comes just days before Brazil is set to host Prince William and world leaders at the COP30 climate summit starting on November 11 and providing a global showcase for the nation.
In the ongoing favela violence, gangs bombed police with drones in revenge for the deadly crackdown in the Penha district.
‘This is how the Rio police are treated by criminals: with bombs dropped by drones,’ said a police spokesperson.
‘This is the scale of the challenge we face. This is not ordinary crime, but narco-terrorism.’
A resident added: ‘This is the first time we’ve seen drones from criminals dropping bombs in the community. Everyone is terrified because there’s so much gunfire.’
The aerial assaults came after a brutal police crackdown left at least 119 people dead – spotlighting the city’s controversial war against drug gangs entrenched in its poorest neighbourhoods.
Rio de Janeiro’s gang war has plunged into shocking brutality – with police accused of beheading a teenage gangster and hanging his head from a tree after Brazil ‘s bloodiest-ever favela raid. Pictured: Residents look at the bodies of people killed on Tuesday in Brazil
A man looks at the bodies of people killed during a police raid targeting the Comando Vermelho gang at the Complexo da Penha favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 29, 2025
Bodies are seen lined up on Sao Lucas Square of the Vila Cruzeiro favela at the Penha complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 29, 2025
A woman mourns over the bodies of people killed on Tuesday during a gang raid in Brazil
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for action against organized crime that does not endanger police or civilians, as Brazil’s security challenges were laid bare.
Families of the dead decried what they described as executions by police, while the state government hailed a successful operation against a powerful criminal group that has taken over large swaths of Rio de Janeiro.
The divisive police raid exposed the violent underbelly of a city beloved by tourists for its idyllic beaches and vibrant culture.
State authorities said the provisional death toll now stood at 119, including 115 suspected criminals and four police officers.
‘We cannot accept that organized crime continues to destroy families, oppress residents, and spread drugs and violence throughout the cities,’ Lula wrote on X.
‘We need coordinated work that strikes at the backbone of drug trafficking without putting innocent police officers, children, and families at risk.’
The veteran leftist, 80, is seeking a fourth term in office in the 2026 elections in which Brazil’s security challenges are expected to be a major campaign issue.
Bodies piled up in poor neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro on October 28 as police launched their biggest ever raids on the city’s drug traffickers, leaving at least 132 dead in war-like scenes
A drone views shows mourners gathering around bodies on October 29, 2025, in Brazil
Relatives mourn beside the bodies of people killed in a gang raid on Tuesday in Brazil
As many as 2,500 heavily armed officers, backed by armored vehicles, helicopters and drones took part in the operation targeting Brazil’s main drug-trafficking gang in two favelas, in Rio
He sent his justice minister Ricardo Lewandowski to Rio de Janeiro for a meeting with right-wing state governor Claudio Castro to offer cooperation from the federal government.
Lewandowski told a press conference he had offered to aid Rio to ‘overcome this security crisis as quickly as possible.’
The Prince of Wales, 43, is travelling to the capital next week both to attend the summit and present his environmental Earthshot prize, an award that hands £1million out for environmental innovations.
But after the ‘unprecedented bloodshed’ security is being beefed up.
A source told the Daily Mirror: ‘After the unprecedented bloodshed during fierce intergang fighting, the government has drafted in thousands more officers and the military.
‘All eyes will be on Rio while William is there, and there is genuine concern that violence will erupt again while he is in Brazil.’
A day after the police operation paralyzed the city, residents of the Complexo da Penha favela recovered dozens of bodies from a forest on its outskirts, including one that was decapitated, local journalists witnessed.
‘They slit my son’s throat, cut his neck, and hung the head from a tree like a trophy,’ said Raquel Tomas, the mother of the 19-year-old who was found decapitated.
‘They executed my son without giving him a chance to defend himself. He was murdered,’ she told local media, her voice shaking.
‘Everyone deserves a second chance. During an operation, police should do their job, arrest suspects, but not execute them,’ Tomas added.
Lawyer Albino Pereira Neto, who represents three families that lost relatives, told reporters some of the bodies bore ‘burn marks’ and that a number of those killed had been tied up.
Some were ‘murdered in cold blood,’ he said.
The raid also drew alarm from abroad – with UN chief Antonio Guterres saying he was ‘greatly concerned’ by the number of casualties, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was ‘horrified’ and called for ‘swift investigations.’
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes summoned Castro to a hearing on Monday to explain the police actions.
Hundreds of police backed by helicopters, armored vehicles and drones on Tuesday entered two sprawling favelas that are strongholds of Comando Vermelho – the Red Command – Rio’s oldest and most powerful drug trafficking group.
The police and suspected gang members traded heavy gunfire as terrified residents scrambled for cover.
While the operation unfolded, Comando Vermelho seized dozens of buses and used them to barricade main highways, and sent drones to attack the police with explosives, authorities said.
Castro described the raid against what he has termed ‘narcoterrorism’ as a ‘success’ and said the only victims were the police officers who were killed.
The operation came after more than a year of planning to tackle gang members who concentrate their operations in the maze-like communities that bear the brunt of the violence.
Secretary of the military police, Marcelo de Menezes, told a press conference that elite special forces had deliberately pushed ‘criminals’ into the forest abutting the favela, where the majority of fighting had taken place, to ‘protect the population.’
Civil police secretary Felipe Curi meanwhile alleged the bodies displayed in the street were in their underwear because they had been stripped by residents of the ‘camouflage clothing, vests, and weapons’ they had on them.
Authorities said 113 people had been detained and that 91 rifles were seized, along with a large quantity of drugs.