Over 40 dead in police raids targeting drug gangs in Brazil

At least 43 people were dead following police raids targeting drug gangs in three Brazilian states, according to local media on Wednesday.

In the most recent operation in Rio de Janeiro, at least 10 people were killed after police claimed to return fire during a shootout in the Complexo da Penha neighbourhood.

Earlier, 14 suspects were killed amid clashes during a five-day police raid in the state of Sao Paulo known as Operation Shield, the BBC reported.

Additionally, 19 suspects have died since Friday according to authorities in the state of Bahia in the northeast.

The operation in So Paulo state, which started after a special forces police officer was killed on Thursday in the seaside town of Guarujá, resulted in the arrest of 58 people.

According to local media, police also recovered firearms and 385 kg of drugs.

Brazil's Justice Minister Flavio Dino, denounced the operation, saying it was out of proportion to the crime that was committed.

Two police officers were among the 14 persons murdered during clashes, according to Tarcisio de Freitas, the governor of the state of So Paulo, in an interview on Tuesday.

According to local media accounts, a drug kingpin and a trafficker were two of the ten people killed on Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro while four other people, including a policeman, were hurt.

Military police launched an operation in Complexo da Penha, north of the city, after intelligence indicated a meeting of drug traffic ringleaders was expected to take place there. Witnesses reported gunshots and clashes between gang members and police, involving heavily armed gang members.

Member of the Rio state assembly Talria Petrone criticised the operation saying that there was, "no explanation for the state to continue turning life in favelas into a hell like this."

Schools in Complexo da Penha closed, causing 3,220 pupils to stay home and national health service house visits were also suspended due to security concerns.

Instituto Marielle Franco — an NGO named after campaigning politician Marielle Franco who was murdered in 2018 — also publicly criticised the latest events in a statement, saying: "The slaughter repeats itself."

Franco was a vocal councilwoman who, before her death, had criticised the police for their frequently lethal raids in densely populated shanty neighbourhoods, or favelas, and had criticised paramilitary organisations led by retired and off-duty police, known as milcias.

According to BBC South America correspondent Katy Watson, police violence is quite frequent in Brazil as every week, there are shoot-outs, leaving people dead.

She also said that Rio de Janeiro is one of the most violent states in Brazil and has experienced fatalities and accusations of poor training and trigger-happy authorities during drug crime operations in favelas.

Meanwhile, in Bahia, clashes between police and gang members occurred in Salvador, Itatim, and Camaçari, resulting in the deaths of seven people while eight were left injured.

Additionally, in Salvador, clashes between police and armed suspects led to four deaths and school closures. Guns, phones, and drugs were seized during the operations.

According to Watson, the situation is tricky in a nation with a high rate of gun crime and rising security concerns. However, she added that there are more and more requests to investigate police abuses of human rights.