Today in Focus The untold story of Brazil’s deadliest police raid
17 snips
Feb 12, 2026 
Tiago Ruggiero, The Guardian’s South America correspondent who covers security and organised crime, and Tom Phillips, The Guardian’s Rio-based Latin America reporter focused on violence and policing. They trace a massive police raid in Rio’s favelas. They describe the operation’s planning, chaotic firefights and where many died. They explore community grief, disputed killings and the political fallout that followed.
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Dawn Arrival At A Massacre
- Tom Phillips arrived at Villa Cruzeiro at dawn to find dozens of bodies being carried down from the hills.
- He described jumping in the shower and driving with emergency lights flashing into a scene of mass casualties and shock.
Favelas As Parallel Power Structures
- The Complexo da Penha is a sprawling cluster of favelas controlled by the Red Command and largely outside state control.
- Tom Phillips emphasised barricades, local rules and absence of government services that enable armed groups to dominate daily life.
A Community Turned Into A War Zone
- Residents woke to a war zone at 3am with barricades burning and continuous gunfire as police and traffickers clashed.
- Families flocked to the Residents' Association with frantic messages from loved ones trapped and pleading for help.