The mega-operation last Tuesday, October 28, in Brazil, in two favela complexes in Rio de Janeiro,left at least 117 suspected criminals and four police officers dead.
The operation was hailed as “a success” against “narco-terrorism” by the state governor, Cláudio Castro, while a group of Bolsonaro-aligned legislators endorsed the operation,which aimed to strike a blow against the Comando Vermelho (CV).
Meanwhile, the arsenal of 91 rifles seized in the mega-operation included weapons from the armies of Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, and Brazil.
“What caught our attention, although it is not unprecedented, was the presence of rifles belonging to armed forces not only from Brazil but also from other South American countries,” said delegate Vinicius Domingos, from the Coordination of Inspection of Weapons and Explosives.
According to the Brazilian newspaper G1, rifles belonging to the Venezuelan armed forces, one from Peru and another from Argentina, were found along with weapons from the Brazilian military.
The markings and inscriptions present on several of the 93 rifles seized during the extensive operation are allowing authorities to measure the firepower that criminal organizations currently maintain in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the links between Comando Vermelho and criminal groups in other regions.
The weapons will undergo ballistic testing and a thorough analysis by investigators in order to trace the suppliers and the routes used for their entry. Those found to be in optimal condition could be added to the police inventory.
“With the exception of Colombia and Mexico, we are unaware of any other countries where narco-terrorists openly use this arsenal of weapons to maintain territorial control. This causes immense damage not only to lives, but also to property,” the officer was quoted as saying by the Brazilian media outlet.
The incident fueled the hardline rhetoric among a population tired of chronic insecurity.
The operation in the favelas “was timely, effective, and necessary. It should have been done even sooner, because what we see today is that citizens don't feel safe on the street: you leave home but you don't know if you'll be able to return,” Anselmo Pereira, a 67-year-old retiree in Meier, a middle-class neighborhood in Rio's North Zone, told AFP. Meanwhile, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president, said on Thursday that he will travel with his brother, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, to El Salvador to learn anti-drug trafficking strategies from President Nayib Bukele.
