The casualties continued piling up - eyewitness describes fatal Rio police raid

Bruno Itan

A reporter who observed the aftermath of a large-scale law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has recounted how local people came back with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The bodies "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness reported. Among them were security forces.

One of the bodies had been decapitated - others were "completely mutilated", he explained. Several bodies showed evidence of blade trauma.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during the security action targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation the municipality has seen.

Bruno Itan stated that he initially learned concerning the action early on Tuesday by local people living in Alemão, who reached out telling him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter went to a local medical facility, where the casualties were coming in.

The eyewitness reported that security forces blocked media personnel from going into the operation zone, where the security measures was under way.

"Police officers established a perimeter and declared: 'Journalists are not allowed to pass'."

Nevertheless, the eyewitness, who grew up in the community, stated he succeeded to gain access past the security perimeter, where he continued until the next morning.

He explained that Tuesday night, local residents commenced searching the hillside that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones whose whereabouts were unknown since the police raid.

Community members living in Penha proceeded to place the recovered bodies in a square - the photographer's images display the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The violence of what occurred affected me deeply: the pain of loved ones, mothers fainting, women carrying children, weeping, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

The photographer

The state leader of Rio state stated that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 officers was aimed at stopping a gang referred to as the criminal faction from expanding its territory.

Originally, the Rio state government claimed that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured during the action.

They have since said that early calculations indicates that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

Rio's public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, has estimated the total number of fatalities as 132.

Based on expert analysis, the criminal organization is the only criminal group that in the past few years has managed to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations in Brazil, in company with First Capital Command, with a background spanning over five decades.

According to reporter an expert, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio extensively, the gang "works as a system" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and serving as "operational allies".

The organization engages primarily in illegal drug trade, but also smuggles weapons, gold, fuel, liquor smoking products.

Based on official reports, gang members have substantial firearms and police said that during the raid, they encountered resistance using drone-delivered explosives.

The governor of the state, the political leader, characterized gang affiliates as "narcoterrorists" and described the security forces killed in the raid as "heroes".

But the number of fatalities during the raid has come in for criticism from international human rights authorities stating they were "shocked".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, Governor Castro supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to kill anyone. We aimed to take suspects into custody without harm," he declared.

He continued that the circumstances worsened because the suspects had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the resistance they executed and the overwhelming response from the gang members."

The official also said that the bodies displayed by locals in the area were "altered".

In a post on online platforms, he claimed that particular individuals had been taken of tactical gear he said they had been wearing "in order to shift blame toward law enforcement".

A police official of Rio's civil police force additionally stated that military attire, protective equipment, and firearms" were taken away from the victims and presented video seemingly depicting a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse