🔗 Share this article The victims kept arriving - reporter shares lethal Rio law enforcement operation Bruno Itan Multiple casualties were laid out in an open area in the Rio neighborhood in the wake of the bloodiest security action Rio has ever seen A reporter who witnessed the results of a massive Brazilian police operation in Rio de Janeiro has recounted how community members returned with disfigured remains of people who lost their lives. The victims "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the photographer described. They included those of police officers. One of the bodies was discovered headless - additional victims were "severely damaged", he reported. Numerous victims displayed what he described as knife injuries. Over 120 individuals were killed in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced. More than 100 people were taken into custody as part of the operation The eyewitness stated that he was first alerted to the raid Tuesday morning by community members living in Alemão, who reached out alerting him gunfire had erupted. The eyewitness made his way to a local medical facility, where the casualties were arriving. The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the operation was under way. "Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and said: 'Media representatives cannot proceed beyond this point'." However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the community, reported he managed to enter into the cordoned-off area, where he remained until dawn. He described that evening, community members began to search the elevated terrain which divides Penha from the nearby Alemão neighbourhood for family members who had been missing following the security action. Local people living in Penha arranged the discovered victims in an open area - the photographer's images reveal the response of those present. "The harsh reality of the situation affected me deeply: the sorrow of loved ones, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, sobbing, angry family members," the eyewitness remembered. The eyewitness There was disbelief in Penha as community members found more and more bodies from the adjacent terrain The official of the region declared that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 security personnel was designed to halting a gang referred to as Red Command from expanding its territory. Initially, local officials stated that "60 suspects along with four officers" had been killed during the action. Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count shows that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured. Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to the poor, has put the total number of casualties at 132. Per investigative findings, the gang represents the unique criminal entity that in the past few years has managed to expand its territory in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in the country, together with another major gang, with a background spanning over five decades. According to reporter Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city for years, the criminal organization "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "commercial associates". The criminal group concentrates largely on drug trafficking, while also dealing in weapons, gold, petroleum products, alcohol and tobacco. Per law enforcement statements, criminal affiliates are well armed and authorities stated that during the raid, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives. The official of the region, Cláudio Castro, labeled Red Command members as "narcoterrorists" and described the four police officers killed in the raid as courageous individuals. Nevertheless, the total of casualties in the operation has come in for criticism from UN human rights officials stating they were "shocked". During a press briefing the following day, Governor Castro justified security actions. "We did not plan to result in deaths. We intended to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared. He added that the situation worsened as the individuals fought back: "It occurred of the retaliation they executed and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group." The governor further reported that the victims presented by community members in Penha had been "manipulated". Through a message on social media, he claimed that certain victims had been removed of military-style attire that he stated they possessed "in order to shift blame to security forces". A law enforcement representative from the police department further reported that tactical gear, vests, and firearms" were stripped from the casualties and displayed evidence appearing to show a person stripping military attire {off a corpse