A vast operation targeting drug traffickers in Rio de Janeiro has killed at least 64 people, including four police officers in what authorities described as the most lethal episode in the battle against organised crime
Police in Brazil have dramatically increased security ahead of Prince William’s arrival in Rio following the city’s bloody ‘day of terror’. At least 64 people, including four cops, were killed on Tuesday, and 80 suspects were arrested in the blitz to stop the feared gang, known as Comando Vermelho in Brazil, from expanding its operations. The government is desperate to apprehend its leader ahead of William’s arrival on Friday for his environmental Earthshot prize. Today, armed units formed part of one of the country’s biggest ever manhunts for a ruthless mob boss accused of more than 100 executions. A Crimestoppers-style organisation has offered a record reward for information leading to the capture of 55-year-old Edgard Alves Andrade, whose nicknames include Urso, which means Bear in English.
A source told the Mirror: “With Prince William and other dignitaries arriving in Rio for the ceremony, security was already heightened. But following the unprecedented bloodshed now shed during fierce intergang fighting, the government has drafted in thousands more officers and the military. All eyes will be on Rio while William is there, and there is genuine concern that violence will erupt again while he is in Brazil.”
Andrade has been identified as a leader of the powerful Red Command gang, the target of a massive police operation involving 2,500 officers in two Rio de Janeiro slums. Alves, who is also known as Doca da Penha, escaped the war-like operation in the northern Rio Penha and Alemao favelas and was still on the run last night.
Authorities have now confirmed that a £14,000 bounty is on his head, marking the largest reward ever offered by Disque Denuncia, which was launched in Rio 30 years ago and has been replicated in several other Brazilian states. Officials were promising callers who could help them nab the merciless fugitive “guaranteed anonymity.”
A reward that size has only ever been offered once before by the Crimestoppers-style organisation and that was 25 years ago for Rio drug baron Fernandinho Beira-Mar. Alves has been identified as the intellectual author of a triple murder in October 2023 in the Rio de Janeiro tourist area of Tijuca when three doctors attending a conference were mistaken for gang rivals.
The Brazilian trio were shot dead in a 28-second hail of bullets as they were having dinner on a restaurant terrace. He has also been accused of ordering the assassinations of the blundering hitmen who executed the medics. The bodies of the four suspected gunmen were discovered days after the horrific crime in two cars in a nearby neighbourhood.
Alves, dubbed Rio’s enemy number one by local media, has also been implicated in the murders of three children from Belford Roxo in the state of Rio de Janeiro who vanished in December 2020. The bodies of Lucas Matheus, nine; Alexandre da Silva, 11; and Fernando Henrique, 12, have never been found.Investigators said on the eve of the one-year anniversary of their disappearance, they had been tortured and killed because they stole a birdcage from a drug dealer’s uncle.
Alves was born in the state of Paraiba in north-east Brazil, but grew up in Vila Cruzeiro, one of the most dangerous favelas in Rio, where there are shootings every day. He has been at large since fleeing prison in 2017. Local reports today said he had 26 outstanding arrest warrants. Disque Denuncia said in a statement yesterday alongside the wanted poster for Alves: “Disque Denuncia today released the poster offering a reward of Brazilian Reais 100,000 for information that leads the police to capture 55-year-old Edgard Alves Andrade, known as Doca da Penha or Urso.
“This is the largest reward in the service’s history, alongside the reward of the same amount offered for information leading to Fernandinho Beira-Mar in 2000. There are more than 20 arrest warrants issued against him. He is identified as one of the leaders of the Comando Vermelho, a criminal faction targeted in a major operation by the Rio de Janeiro security forces in the Alemao and Penha complexes.Doca was born in Paraiba and raised in Vila Cruzeiro, in the North Zone of Rio. According to the police, he has already been hiding in Morro do São Simão, in Queimados, in the Baixada Fluminense. A fugitive from the prison system, Disque Denuncia highlights that Doca is being investigated for more than 100 homicides, including the execution of children and the disappearance of residents. In October 2023, Doca was identified as the mastermind behind the execution of three doctors and the attempted murder of a fourth man in Barra da Tijuca, in the Southwest Zone of Rio. The victims were attending a medical conference and were mistaken for militiamen from Rio das Pedras. The investigations showed that Doca later sentenced the doctors’ killers to death. Doca has an arrest warrant for the case involving the three boys who disappeared in Belford Roxo, in the Baixada Fluminense. According to the investigations, the trafficker ordered the execution of everyone who killed the children. The bodies of those responsible have not appeared – just like those of the children.Rio governor Claudio Castro said yesterday the city was “at war” as gun battles between criminals and police raged, calling it “the biggest operation in the history of Rio de Janeiro.” He said in a video on social media: “This is no longer a common crime, it’s narco-terrorism.” The police raid was reportedly planned for over a year. The Red Command, the gang targeted in the operation, is Brazil’s oldest criminal faction. It emerged from Rio’s prisons during the military dictatorship and now runs major drug and extortion networks across South America.Footage showed armoured vehicles advancing through narrow alleys as gunfire echoed and thick black smoke rose from burning barricades. Local media said gang members used drones to drop explosives on police.
