The people who were killed during Operation Containment should be identified by this weekend, according to Rio de Janeiro’s Secretary of Public Security, Victor Santos. According to the secretary, a task force was set up at the Legal Medical Institute (IML). The names of the 100 already identified have not yet been released..
“At IML, a task force was set up to carry out identification. There are identification processes: identification of the relative herself, which recognizes the victim, the dead person; there is the fingerprint process; and the more complex ones, DNA and many others. So, it is not easy, it is not quick, but we believe that by the end of the week, within this routine, we will be able to identify everyone”, said Santos.
The secretary spoke to the press at a press conference, after meeting with parliamentarians this morning, at the Integrated Command and Control Center of the State Secretariat of Military Police of Rio de Janeiro. In total, ten federal deputies, nine state deputies and four councilors from the capital participated in the meeting.
The Civil Police Secretary, Felipe Curi, added that there are many dead who are from other states. “Identification takes longer, precisely because we have to talk to the technical police of these corresponding states, to obtain more data and have the precise identification of these bodies. That’s why it’s taking a little longer,” he stated.
Asked about disclosing the names of the dead, Curi said that a list “will be released at the appropriate time”.
THE Operation Containmentheld this Tuesday (28), in the Alemão and Penha complexes, had a force of 2,500 police officers and is the largest carried out in the state in the last 15 years and also the most lethal. The state recognizes 121 deaths, four of them police officers, and admits that the number of victims could still increase. According to civil society organizations, more than 130 people died in the operation.
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Dock was not arrested
The objective of the operation was to contain the advance of Comando Vermelho and execute 180 search and seizure warrants and 100 arrest warrants, 30 of which were issued by the state of Pará, a partner in the operation.
The main target of the operation, Edgar Alves de Andrade, known as Doca, considered the main released leader of Comando Vermelho, was not arrested. Secretary Victor Santos says that, despite this, the operation was a success, arresting 113 people. He highlights that, among the seizures, are HDs that can lead to forms of money laundering and contribute to police investigations.
According to research released last year by the Study Group on New Illegalisms at the Fluminense Federal University (Geni/UFF) and the Fogo Cruzado Institute, Comando Vermelho was the only criminal faction to expand its territorial control from 2022 to 2023in Greater Rio. With an increase of 8.4%, the organization surpassed the militias and now accounts for 51.9% of the areas controlled by criminals in the region.
The research showed that Comando Vermelho regained leadership of 242 km² that had been lost to the militias in 2021. That year, 46.5% of the areas under criminal control belonged to the militias and 42.9% to Comando Vermelho.
Although the operation seized tons of drugs – the total has not yet been specified – Curi recognizes that Drugs are not the main source of financing for organized crime.
“Drugs today account for around 10 to 15% of the factions’ revenue. She saw that the territory is synonymous with revenue, money, economic exploitation of that territory. Precisely exploiting everything within it: internet, gas, electricity, water, irregular constructions, extortion of traders within the community, residents, etc. So, that’s what the red command wants. Just to exploit the territory economically”, he said.
The secretaries of the Civil Police, Felipe Curi, of Security, Victor Santos and the Rio de Janeiro Military Police, Marcelo Menezes during a press conference on Operation Containment on Wednesday (29) – Photo: Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil
Operation leak
When asked about a possible leak that the operation would take place in the Penha and Alemão complexes, Santos says that there was no serious leak and that the objectives of the operation were achieved.
“In an operation like this, with the mobilization of 2,500 police officers, naturally, someone finds out about this due to the mobilization itself. And also because of this force, this operation will certainly take place in a large complex. What we verify is that there was no leak that we understand as serious, a qualified leak, that is, we reached the objective and the objective was not achieved”, he said.
Torture marks
Since yesterday, the secretaries have been questioned about torture that had been carried out by police officers and about the executions of people who had surrendered. They deny it and say that this will be verified in the examinations carried out by the IML. Curi says that an investigation was launched to investigate the crime of procedural fraud due to the alleged removal of clothes and boots from the bodies. Regarding the injuries, he says they may not have been caused by police officers.
This Wednesday (29), around 60 bodies were located and removed from a forested area in Complexo da Penha by residents, following Operation Containment carried out by the state security forces, this Tuesday (28). The bodies were gathered in Praça São Lucas, in the center of the community.
According to their families, they showed signs of torture.and the relatives received proof that they had surrendered.
