The war between militias and drug factions gained a new chapter in January with the invasion by the Comando Vermelho (CV) of areas in the West Zone of Rio dominated by paramilitary organizations for decades. In all, the first month of 2023 saw 12 shootings between armed groups. Only the West Zone concentrated nine of the shootings, with five dead and two injured, according to the monthly report by the Fogo Cruzado Institute. Gardênia Azul, in Jacarepaguá, has been one of the main sites of conflicts. The region accumulated nine shootings in January, two of which were caused by a fight over territory between drug traffickers and the militia, another three were due to police actions and operations, and the other four had no identified motive. Residents of Gardênia Azul report that drug dealers have imposed a curfew. Cidade de Deus, along with Gardênia Azul, was also affected by the invasion. Controlled for years by the Comando Vermelho, the community saw seven shootings in January, one of them in disputes between armed groups.
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The month in data
January 2023 had 294 shootings in the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro. Number represents an increase of 29% compared to January 2022, which concentrated 228 shootings. Among the 294 shootings mapped, 39% (114) of them occurred in police actions or operations. In January 2022, of the 228 shootings, 31.5% (72) were in these actions or operations.
Our Analysis:
Despite the implementation in the beginning of last year of another public security project in Rio de Janeiro – “Cidade Integrada” –, the armed conflicts seem to be still growing and even spreading to areas where they were not common before. Muzema neighborhood, traditionally controlled by the militia, is among the areas where the program was implemented, but it was still affected by the armed clashes provoked by the drug gang invasion and the police response. “Cidade Integrada” replaced the Peacekeeping Police Unit (UPP), which is criticized for failing after a rushed attempt to expand it too quickly during the sports events of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics. The most recent idea to fight the organized crime in Rio state has also been criticized. Critics say it was just a piece of political marketing used by Governor Castro during his reelection campaign.
03/01/2022 – A bus passenger was killed by a stray bullet during a clash on Avenida Brasil, near Complexo da Maré, North Zone. He was hit by a rifle shot when he was returning home from work. A criminal was also shot and died. The Military Police reported that teams from the Shock Police Battalion were patrolling the expressway when they came across criminals. According to the corporation, one of them reacted and the confrontation was initiated.
04/02/2023 – A man was shot dead on Rua Siqueira Campos, in Copacabana, South Zone. According to preliminary information, a man and a store employee would have been involved in a fight, and one of them would have fired the shots. A third man, aged 44, who was walking along the sidewalk, ended up being shot. According to residents, after the crime, the author would have fled the scene.
04/02/2022 – Actress Jeniffer Dias was kidnapped when returning from a rehearsal at the Mangueira Samba School. She said that she was surprised by hooded and armed men when she arrived home and that she was almost two hours in the hands of criminals. They surrendered her, took her car and put her in another car they were in. After two hours, they released her without any belongings and took all her passwords.
05/02/2023 – Officers from the Leblon Police Station seized drugs and several knives in an operation at Parque Garota de Ipanema, in the neighborhood of Ipanema, South Zone. Six knives and scissors were seized. Officers approached 17 people. According to the police, all had criminal notes for crimes such as theft, robbery, bodily harm, threats, drug trafficking, the Maria da Penha Law and even homicide.
06/02/2023 – A criminal invaded the Parish of São Jorge, in Quintino, North Zone, after being chased by military police. According to the Archdiocese of Rio, he invaded the place and took a deacon hostage. The military police entered the premises and fired a shot, which hit the criminal, according to the archdiocese.
07/02/2023 – Civil Police is investigating the kidnapping of a 41-year-old construction worker. He has been missing since he was removed from a party, during the celebration of a friend’s birthday, by about 25 men armed with rifles who invaded the place and identified themselves as police officers, in Pedra de Guaratiba, in the West Zone.
08/02/2023 – A fake doctor was arrested by a team from the Police Station for the Repression of Narcotics (DRE) during a service in Tijuca, in the North Zone. The 38-year-old man worked in Rio de Janeiro with his medical record, the CRM, canceled due to fraud. He was charged with illegally practicing medicine. According to investigations by the Civil Police, he is part of a scheme that tried to defraud records in the regional council of Rio de Janeiro for supposed students of the Faculty of Medicine of the Federal University of Bahia.
09/02/2023 – Civil police officers in Madureira, North Zone, arrested a military police officer suspected of leading a gang that extorted money and kidnapped merchants from various neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro. According to the investigations, he dressed as a police officer and approached the victims as if he was going to arrest them for some crime. From there, they were taken to other places and the extortion began. In order not to be unfairly arrested, merchants paid the requested amount. In addition, they also contacted families saying that people were kidnapped and asked for ransoms. He carried guns, and arrived dressed in Civil Police uniforms, bulletproof vests and even badges. This material was seized.
09/02/2023 – The criminal Tio Rico, the most wanted in Paraguay, was arrested by police in the neighborhood of Recreio dos Bandeirantes. He had plans to become the main supplier of cocaine to the Comando Vermelho, the largest criminal trafficking faction in Rio de Janeiro. He is also pointed out by Asunción authorities as having ordered the execution of Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, in May of last year.
10/02/2023 – Drugs of various types, anabolic steroids and electronic cigarettes were seized by the Federal Revenue at the Correios Treatment Center in Rio de Janeiro. Some of the orders were posted in Paraguay. In all, the products are valued at around R$ 500,000. Among the various narcotics confiscated were synthetic drugs and almost 2 kg of hashish. 51 shipments of injectable anabolic steroids from Paraguay were also found.
