The bodies just kept coming - reporter shares lethal Rio law enforcement operation

Bruno Itan

A photographer who witnessed the consequences of a large-scale Brazilian police operation in the Brazilian city has reported how residents returned with disfigured remains of those who had died.

The victims "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", the eyewitness reported. They included those of police officers.

A particular victim had been decapitated - others were "totally disfigured", he said. Several bodies showed what appeared to be blade trauma.

More than 120 people lost their lives during the security action on a criminal gang - the bloodiest action Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness reported that he was first alerted to the raid in the early hours by residents living in Alemão, who reached out informing him gunfire had erupted.

The reporter went to the healthcare center, where the casualties were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from entering the affected area, where the security measures were occurring.

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

However, the photographer, who grew up in that neighborhood, explained he managed to gain access into the restricted zone, where he remained until the next morning.

He described that Tuesday night, local residents started looking the mountainous area that separates Penha from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who had been missing since the police raid.

Community members living in Penha proceeded to place the discovered victims in a square - and Itan's photos reveal the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The brutality of the situation impacted me profoundly: the grief of relatives, mothers fainting, pregnant wives, crying, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The eyewitness

The governor of the state announced that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 security personnel was intended to stopping a gang called Comando Vermelho from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities stated that "60 suspects plus four law enforcement personnel" had been killed in the raid.

Authorities later reported that initial estimates indicates that 117 individuals were fatally injured.

The public legal service, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the overall count of casualties at 132.

Per investigative findings, the criminal organization is the only criminal group which in recent years has managed to increase its control throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered one of the two largest gangs nationally, together with another major gang, with a background dating back more than 50 years.

Per Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting illegal operations in Rio over many years, the criminal organization "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders affiliating with the group and acting as "business partners".

The organization concentrates largely on narcotics distribution, additionally trafficking weapons, precious metals, fuel, beverages and tobacco.

Based on official reports, organization members are well armed and officials reported that during the raid, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The state leader of Rio state, the government representative, described gang affiliates as criminal extremists and referred to the four police officers killed in the raid as brave public servants.

However, the count of casualties in the operation has received condemnation from international human rights authorities stating they were "horrified".

During a press briefing on Wednesday, the official defended the police force.

"We did not plan to cause fatalities. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He added that the events worsened because the suspects resisted aggressively: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they implemented and the overwhelming response by those criminals."

The governor also said that the bodies displayed by locals in the area had been "tampered with".

In a post on social media, he claimed that some of them had been stripped of tactical gear which he claimed they wore "to transfer accusation to security forces".

A law enforcement representative from the police department also said that "camouflage clothing, vests, and arms" were stripped from the casualties and showed footage apparently demonstrating an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse