Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – On October 29, 2025, a massive anti-crime operation in Rio de Janeiro turned into a bloodbath, leaving at least 60 civilians and police officers dead in one of the deadliest days in Brazil’s war on drug gangs. The raid, dubbed “Operation Phoenix,” involved over 2,000 officers from the Military Police, Federal Police, and BOPE elite unit storming favelas controlled by the Comando Vermelho and Terceiro Comando Puro cartels in Complexo do Alemão and Rocinha.

The operation, aimed at dismantling drug labs and weapons caches, erupted into chaos when cartels responded with heavy gunfire, grenades, and improvised explosives. Bodies littered the streets, with ambulances overwhelmed and hospitals in crisis. Among the dead were 42 civilians, including women and children caught in crossfire, and 18 police officers—the highest single-day toll since the 2006 Baixada Fluminense massacres. Governor Cláudio Castro declared a state of emergency, mobilizing the National Guard.