Brazil police crack down on drug gangs and seize weapons in multiple states
Police forces in several Brazilian states carried out coordinated operations against organized crime and drug trafficking. In Rosário Oeste, Mato Grosso, the Civil Police executed the sixth phase of Operation Devastate, fulfilling 20 judicial orders that resulted in eight preventive arrests and 12 search warrants targeting a local drug faction.
In Rio de Janeiro, the joint Civil and Military Police continued Operation Contenção, arresting 23 members of the Comando Vermelho in the neighborhoods of Cidade de Deus, Muzema and Vila Sapê, and seizing dozens of firearms, ammunition and drug‑related material. A separate police raid in Itaboraí ended with three suspects killed and the confiscation of two assault rifles.
In the Acre state, the Integrated Force against Organized Crime (FICCO/AC) apprehended three suspects and seized two rifles, a radio, tactical gear and additional weapons during a raid in Rio Branco. The Federal Police’s FICCO unit in Goiás supported the fourteenth phase of Operation Destroyer, executing 29 search warrants and 22 arrest warrants that led to 17 arrests and the seizure of drugs, cash and evidence of money‑laundering across four municipalities.
Additional actions included the seizure of 46 cocaine tablets after a downed aircraft was found in Reserva do Cabaçal (Mato Grosso) and the arrest of a for‑wanted robber in Novo São Joaquim (Mato Grosso) who was also caught trafficking narcotics. Families of inmates in Acre blocked a prison access road after visits were suspended, reflecting ongoing tensions surrounding law‑enforcement measures.