15/08/2025 – On Friday (15/08), a man was found shot dead on Avenida Ayrton Senna near Gardênia Azul, West zone, marking the ninth body discovered since 13 August, when six alleged Red Command (CV) members were killed in a joint police operation; two more victims were found the following day in Jacarepaguá, while the “Operação Contenção” led to 12 arrests, including gang enforcers, and the seizure of rifles, pistols, grenades, drugs, and trafficking records as part of efforts to curb CV’s territorial expansion in the area.
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16/08/2025 – On Saturday (16/08), the Red Command took over Morro do Amorim, a favela in Manguinhos near Avenida Brasil and Linha Amarela, imposing rules such as removing cameras and forcing drivers to keep windows down under threat of death. The group painted CV and new management on walls, using the area to expand its territory and establish a hub by Avenida Brasil while extorting residents and businesses. The Military Police has carried out operations from its UPP base, and the Civil Police is investigating.
16/08/2025 – On Saturday (16/08), a man was arrested in Copacabana after allegedly drugging and robbing a French tourist in a “boa noite, Cinderela” scam (spiked drink scam). Agents from the Municipal Public Order Secretariat detained him on Avenida Atlântica after bystanders accused him, later locating the victim near the Hotel Pestana and providing medical assistance. The tourist was hospitalized.
16/08/2025 – On Saturday (16/08), Sther Barroso dos Santos, 22, was brutally murdered after refusing advances from a drug trafficker at a funk party in Vila Aliança, West Zone. Beaten and abandoned at her doorstep, she arrived dead at the hospital. Police suspect Bruno da Silva Loureiro, known as “Coronel,” a TCP leader wanted for trafficking, homicide, and criminal association, of ordering the crime. Originally from Muquiço, Sther and her family had left that favela controlled by Coronel to start over. The case is now being investigated by the Homicide Division (DHC), with no arrests so far.
17/08/2025 – On Sunday (17/08), a 37-year-old man was ambushed in Barra da Tijuca, West Zone, when his car was struck by at least 15 gunshots on Avenida Jornalista Tim Lopes. Just days earlier, on 12 August, a 49-year-old man had been executed with ten shots while parking on Rua Carlos Oswald, about four kilometers away. A month before, on 11 July, bicheiro Vinícius Drumond survived an attempt on his life when his car was hit by 30 rounds on Avenida das Américas, with three suspects arrested. These attacks reveal a recurring pattern of vehicle-targeted shootings in the region.
18/08/2025 – On Monday (18/08), Gabriel Gomes da Costa, known as “Ratomen,” was killed during a police operation in Cidade de Deus, West Zone. He was the prime suspect in the murder of Core agent José Antônio Lourenço Júnior, known as Mocotó, and was wanted under a temporary arrest warrant. According to police, Ratomen, manager of a drug sales point in Bairro 13, was armed, resisted, and was shot during the confrontation. He was taken to a local hospital, where his death was confirmed. Other traffickers also attacked police, but no officers were injured. Known for flaunting weapons and money online, Ratomen was considered highly dangerous.
18/08/2025 – On Monday (18/08), Andressa de Almeida Rosa Cezário, 24, mother of a 6-year-old, was shot twice in Praça Vilar Guanabara, Inhoaíba, Campo Grande, West Zone, after an argument with a man. She was taken to a hospital but died of her injuries. The Capital Homicide Division is investigating the case as feminicide. Within 48 hours, she became the second woman killed in the region in crimes linked to domestic violence: on 17 August, 22-year-old Sther Barroso dos Santos was beaten after refusing to leave a party with a trafficker in Senador Camará and later died. From January to July 2025, 53 women were victims of feminicide in Rio state, 45 of them in the metropolitan area, matching 2024 figures. In 2024, 97 women were killed in such crimes, averaging one death every 3.7 days.
18/08/2025 – On Monday morning (18/08), a police operation in Morro do Dendê, Ilha do Governador, led to the seizure of rifles, grenades, drugs, and cash. The clashes caused heavy disruption in the area: gunfire was reported around 09:00, Avenida Paranapuã was blocked shortly after, and buses were hijacked and used as barricades. Some shops in Cacuia closed in the morning but later reopened under reinforced policing. The unrest affected access routes near Galeão International Airport.
20/08/2025 – On Wednesday (20/08), three suspects were arrested in Rio de Janeiro during Operation Lex Falsa, carried out by the Civil Police of Rio in support of Santa Catarina authorities. The operation executed arrest and search warrants in Ilha do Governador, Cabo Frio, and Campos dos Goytacazes. Investigators found that individuals and companies were impersonating Santa Catarina lawyers, using real or forged court documents to demand fictitious procedural fees, promising clients the release of funds. The scheme misled numerous victims across states. The OAB-RJ president praised the operation, stressing that the fraud harms not only individuals and businesses but also the legal profession itself.
20/08/2025 – On Wednesday (20/08), municipal security agents from Seop arrested two men accused of assaulting German tourists in Copacabana, South Zone. The victims were stripped of all belongings, including their clothes, and found walking naked and frightened on Rua Santa Clara. The suspects were later caught in a pharmacy using the tourists’ stolen cards and cell phones. Both were identified by the victims, and the stolen clothes and belongings were recovered. They were taken to the Tourist Police Station.
20/08/2025 – A woman was shot 13 times in an attempted execution on Wednesday (20/08), in Realengo, West Zone. She had just entered a car outside her home when a hooded man, dressed in black and masked, opened fire. The victim was taken to the hospital in critical condition. A man and two children with her escaped unharmed. The 33rd Police Precinct is investigating to identify the shooter and the motive.
20/08/2025 – On Wednesday (20/08), four armed men stormed a building on Rua Oswaldo Cruz in Flamengo, South Zone, on the same floor where the state Secretary of Government lives. The criminals held doormen and residents at gunpoint, claiming to have a specific target, but fled before reaching the elevators. They abandoned their car in Botafogo and escaped on foot. Civil Police carried out searches in the area, examined the vehicle and building, and are investigating the case as an attempted home invasion.
