Police in Rio de Janeiro raid a drug trafficking ring and kill 8 gang members

Rio de Janeiro’s police have killed eight people accused of being part of a drug-trafficking gang during an operation in a low-income neighborhood

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Police in Rio de Janeiro freed two hostages including a child during a raid Thursday on a drug trafficking ring that prompted an intense shoot-out in a low-income neighborhood, leaving eight gang members dead, police said.

The operation targeted the criminal organization known as Pure Third Command, including a trafficker nicknamed "the Coronel," who was accused of murdering a woman in August, Rio's police said in a statement.

“During the operation, agents arrived at a property where six criminals were holding a pastor and a child hostage. The attackers resisted, and were neutralized,” police said. “Two other criminals were neutralized at another point.”

The hostages were released safely, police said. Authorities also arrested two people as they were trying to take control of a bus, which they were trying to use as a barricade to stop agents’ access to the urban neighborhood, police said.

In addition to the arrests, police also seized four rifles.

The intense exchange of fire between gang members and police disrupted trains and buses, shuttered schools and caused scenes of terror in Rio, local media reported. Dozens of children in a nearby daycare center were forced to lie down on the hallway floor as gunshots echoed outside, O Globo newspaper said.

The shoot-out left students and workers "not knowing if they will arrive home alive,” Rio state left-wing lawmaker Renata Souza said on X. “We cannot normalize terror and fear as policy.”

Authorities say the gang intimidates residents, expels rivals, attacks security agents and imposes its rule through curfews.

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