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The photographer

A photographer who documented the results of a large-scale law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has reported how community members came back with badly injured victims of people who lost their lives.

The victims "continued arriving: the count kept increasing", the eyewitness described. The total contained security forces.

A particular victim was found without a head - additional victims were "completely mutilated", he said. Several bodies showed what he described as knife injuries.

Over 120 individuals lost their lives during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the deadliest such raid Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness explained that residents first notified him concerning the action in the early hours by local people from the Alemão area, who sent him messages alerting him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought.

The eyewitness reported that law enforcement blocked media personnel from accessing the Penha neighborhood, where the police action were taking place.

"Police officers created a barrier and declared: 'The press cannot proceed beyond this point'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in that neighborhood, reported he was able to enter past the security perimeter, where he remained until the next morning.

He reported that evening, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that separates Penha from the adjacent Alemão area for relatives whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Local people from the Penha area arranged the located casualties in an open area - the photographer's images reveal the emotions of the gathered crowd.

"The harsh reality of it all shook me profoundly: the grief of the families, mothers fainting, expectant spouses, weeping, furious relatives," the reporter recounted.

Bruno Itan

The state leader of the region declared that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 security personnel was intended to preventing a gang known as Red Command from increasing their control.

Originally, the Rio state government claimed that sixty individuals and four police officers" lost their lives during the action.

Officials subsequently stated that their "preliminary" count indicates that 117 alleged criminals were fatally injured.

The legal assistance organization, that gives legal support to disadvantaged individuals, has calculated the final tally of casualties as 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has been able to increase its control in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It is generally regarded as a major illegal faction in the country, alongside First Capital Command, and has a history spanning over five decades.

Based on reporter a specialist, with extensive experience documenting criminal activity in the city over many years, the gang "functions as a network" with local criminal leaders joining the organization and serving as "commercial associates".

The gang engages primarily in illegal drug trade, while also dealing in weapons, precious metals, fuel, alcohol and tobacco.

According to the authorities, organization members possess significant weaponry and officials reported that throughout the operation, they encountered resistance from explosive-laden drones.

The official of Rio state, Cláudio Castro, characterized gang affiliates as drug terrorists and described the law enforcement personnel killed in the raid as "heroes".

Nevertheless, the total of people killed in the operation has received condemnation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "appalled".

During a press briefing the following day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We wanted to arrest them all alive," he stated.

He added that the situation had escalated because the suspects fought back: "It occurred of the counterattack they carried out and the disproportionate use of force by the illegal group."

The official also said that the casualties presented by community members in the neighborhood had been "tampered with".

Through a message on online platforms, he claimed that particular individuals had been taken of military-style attire he said they had been wearing "to redirect responsibility onto the police".

A law enforcement representative representing security forces further reported that "camouflage clothing, vests, and firearms" were taken away from the bodies and presented video apparently demonstrating an individual stripping military attire {off a corpse