At least nine killed in Rio de Janeiro raid, says Brazilian police

Brasilia [Brazil]: At least nine people have been killed in a police raid in the city of Rio de Janeiro, as a result of law enforcement activity in the city’s poor favela neighbourhoods, Al Jazeera reported citing the Brazilian authorities.

Law enforcement operations have been the cause of the most recent violent incident in the city’s neighbourhoods. Targeting criminal groups in the Complexo da Penha, a network of favelas in the city’s north, was the main goal of the operation on Wednesday, according to the police, reported Al Jazeera.

In Brazil, police raids are a recurring topic of controversy, with pro-law enforcement politicians justifying the operations as essential to combating criminal organisations. Conversely, detractors claim that law enforcement officers engage in criminal behaviour themselves, work with paramilitary groups, and kill people in impoverished neighbourhoods without cause or justification.

According to Al Jazeera, Right-wing former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed concerns about police abuses of power, saying once that criminals should “die like cockroaches.”

He firmly supported the “bullet lobby” in Brazil, a term used to describe the political forces that band together in favour of increased access to firearms, anti-crime legislation, and law enforcement.