According to 2025 data from the Public Security Institute (ISP) released this Friday (16), Rio de Janeiro averaged nearly 200 cell phone thefts per day, totaling over 72,000 cases. While vehicle and cargo robberies fell by up to 18%, police seized a record 920 rifles, a 26% increase from the previous year. Homicides remained stable, but deaths during police interventions rose by 13%, largely due to a massive October operation. Authorities are now intensifying specialized task forces to combat the mobile theft chain and high-caliber weaponry.
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16/01/2026 – On Friday (16), Wagner Barreto de Alencar, a notorious gang leader known as Cachulé, was killed in a shootout with Military Police in the Barbante community on Ilha do Governador. On the run since 2016, the 45-year-old was accused of leading armed attacks against local police units and controlling organized crime in the area. The high-stakes operation, involving the 17th BPM and the Aeromobile Group (GAM), resulted in the seizure of two rifles.
16/01/2026 – On Friday (16), Civil Police arrested a high-ranking leader of the Comando Vermelho from Bahia in Rio de Janeiro, in Gardênia Azul neighborhood, Rio’s Southwest Zone. A fugitive wanted for the murder of a military officer in Ilhéus, the suspect was located through a joint intelligence operation between Rio and Bahia authorities. Following the execution of a preventive arrest warrant, he was transported to the City of Police to await extradition. He is expected to face charges for homicide and drug trafficking in his home state.
16/01/2026 – On Friday morning (16), State Deputy Luiz Paulo was the victim of a sophisticated robbery on the Gasômetro Viaduct, where six criminals armed with rifles and pistols, disguised in counterfeit Civil Police uniforms and balaclavas, intercepted his vehicle and stole personal belongings. Less than 12 hours after the crime, a police operation successfully recovered the car and stolen items near the Nova Holanda community in Complexo da Maré.
19/01/2026 – On Monday (19), military police uncovered a clandestine vehicle plate factory in Vila Kennedy, West Zone. The facility supplied fraudulent plates to criminal gangs across the metropolitan area for cloning stolen cars. During the raid, officers seized two manufacturing machines and dozens of illegal plates intended for distribution throughout the state. The operation resulted in the arrest of two suspects with extensive criminal records, including prior charges for robbery and illegal arms trafficking.
20/01/2026 – On Tuesday (20), a violent crime spree in Rio’s Barra Olímpica and Curicica areas, Southwest Zone, left one suspect dead and four people wounded. The gang first robbed and shot a Civil Police officer and his wife before engaging in a shootout with Military Police near a shopping mall, where a pedestrian was grazed by a stray bullet. One suspect was killed, another was hospitalized under guard, and a third was arrested, while three stolen vehicles were recovered. Authorities are currently searching for the remaining gang members identified by the victims’ daughter.
20/01/2026 – In the early hours of Tuesday (20), two Chilean tourists were robbed near Rua Santa Clara in Copacabana by suspects armed with a knife. The victims, aged 38 and 49, had a cell phone and a waist pack stolen during the confrontation. Following a swift response by the Military Police, the stolen items were recovered and the two perpetrators, aged 19 and 26, were arrested and taken into custody at the Specialized Tourist Police Station (DEAT).
21/01/2026 – On Wednesday (21), the Military Police launched operations in the Complexo da Maré, North Zone, leading to intense shootouts and significant urban disruption. Part of the “Zero Barricade” initiative, the actions aimed to remove street obstacles and seize narcotics, with substantial drug seizures already reported in Parque União. The violence forced four bus lines to change their routes and suspended external activities at three municipal health units. Multiple police battalions remain on-site to stabilize the area for a planned municipal cleanup operation.
21/01/2026 – On Wednesday (21), a joint operation by BOPE and DRE in the César Maia community, in the Vargem Pequena neighborhood, West Zone, resulted in the deaths of four suspects and the seizure of a rifle and two pistols. The raid was a response to a wave of robberies in Curicica the previous night, during which a Civil Police officer, his partner, and a pedestrian were shot. Three suspects had already been arrested after crashing a stolen vehicle into a restaurant while fleeing. Following the operation, police reinforced the area after residents attempted to block local roads in protest.
23/01/2026 – On Friday (23), a suspect involved in the murder of Civil Police officer Paulo Vitor Silva Heitor was killed in a shootout with agents in Senador Camará, West Zone, after resisting arrest. Identified by authorities as the gunman who fatally shot the officer during a robbery in Maracanã, the suspect had over 20 prior criminal records for robbery.
