Between February 13 and 17, during the Carnival period, state security forces arrested 731 people in Rio de Janeiro. The figures appear in the integrated actions report released on Monday (23) by the Rio de Janeiro state government. Meanwhile, the city of São Paulo recorded 2,088 cases of cell phone theft and robbery between February 13 and 17, also during Carnival, according to a report from the Public Security Secretariat (SSP). The total equals an average of 17 devices taken per hour.
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Rio de Janeiro
Of the total arrests, 551 were made by the Military Police, a 10% increase compared with the previous period. Of those, 86 involved teenagers, an 18% increase. In addition to the arrests, security forces seized 60 firearms, up 46%, and 114 replicas, up 208% compared with last year’s Carnival. The report also logged 496 cell phone thefts, a 32.88% drop from the 739 recorded in the same period the previous year. Of the stolen devices, 112 were recovered, a 211% increase. Property crimes overall totaled 586 reports, a reduction of 31.38%.
Present Security Program
Under the Present Security Program, three observation towers were installed: one at Marquês de Sapucaí, another in Copacabana, and a third in Lapa. According to Undersecretary Jeanine Domenech, 400 facial-recognition cameras placed at 90 strategic points carried out roughly 8 million recognitions. With the use of technology, arrests increased by 15%, although the report did not specify the exact number of detainees linked to this tool. Cell phone recoveries rose by 169%.
Dry Law
Operation Dry Law conducted 44 enforcement actions during the period. In total, 4,658 drivers were stopped, and 858 violations were issued for driving under the influence of alcohol—equivalent to 18.4% of those tested. At the Sambódromo, the roughly 100 drivers of carros alegóricos also underwent breath testing.
Reduction in São Paulo
During Carnival 2025, held between February 13 and 17, São Paulo registered 2,506 incidents—a 16% reduction compared with the previous year. During the festivities, more than 70 cell phones were recovered from suspects and sent to police stations, which then worked to identify and contact victims to return the devices. In total, 94 people were arrested at street parties for crimes including theft, robbery, and beverage tampering.
Reinforced Teams
The operations included reinforced patrols, plainclothes teams embedded among revelers, and intensive use of the Muralha Paulista program throughout the celebrations. One widely publicized case occurred on Saturday (14) during a street party in the República area, downtown. Police officers dressed as Scooby-Doo characters arrested three suspects who were exploiting the crowd to steal cell phones. Eight devices were recovered and are expected to be returned to their owners.
Analysis:
The Carnival security balance in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo reveals two distinct operational profiles shaped by local crime dynamics. In Rio, authorities emphasized arrests, weapon seizures, and the deployment of surveillance infrastructure, suggesting a strategy focused on deterrence and territorial control during mass gatherings. The rise in firearms and replica seizures, alongside increased apprehensions of teenagers, indicates that security forces are concentrated on preventing violent incidents and disrupting street-level criminal activity.
São Paulo’s data, by contrast, illustrates the scale and persistence of opportunistic theft in dense urban celebrations. Even with a year-on-year decline during the official Carnival period, the volume of incidents—averaging 17 devices per hour in mid-February—demonstrates how large crowds create favorable conditions for coordinated pickpocketing networks. The use of plainclothes officers and embedded patrols, combined with technological tools such as the Muralha Paulista system, points to a model centered on intelligence and rapid intervention.
Sources: G1 [1], [2]; O Globo; Último Segundo.
