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Bruno Itan

A reporter who documented the aftermath of a massive security raid in Rio de Janeiro has described how local people came back with mutilated bodies of people who lost their lives.

The casualties "kept piling up: the numbers kept rising", Bruno Itan reported. They included law enforcement personnel.

One of the bodies was found without a head - additional victims were "totally disfigured", he reported. Numerous victims displayed evidence of stab wounds.

In excess of 120 victims lost their lives during Tuesday's raid targeting an illegal organization - the most lethal operation in the city.

The eyewitness explained that he was first alerted about the operation Tuesday morning by local people living in Alemão, who contacted him informing him an armed confrontation was occurring.

The reporter traveled to the healthcare center, where the bodies were being brought.

The photographer stated that the police stopped members of the press from going into the affected area, where the operation was under way.

"Security forces formed a line and announced: 'The press are not allowed to pass'."

However, the photographer, who spent his childhood in the area, reported he was able to gain access into the restricted zone, where he continued until dawn.

He described that Tuesday night, community members began to search the hillside which divides the Penha neighborhood from the adjacent Alemão area for family members whose whereabouts were unknown after the operation.

Local people of the Penha neighbourhood proceeded to place the located casualties in an open area - and Itan's photos display the emotions of the people there.

"The violence of it all affected me a lot: the pain of the families, women collapsing, expectant spouses, sobbing, outraged parents," the photographer recalled.

The photographer

The official of the region declared that the massive police operation deploying about 2,500 security personnel was aimed at halting an illegal organization called Comando Vermelho from growing their influence.

Originally, local officials claimed that "60 suspects along with four officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

Authorities later reported that their "preliminary" count suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that offers legal help to disadvantaged individuals, has put the final tally of casualties at 132.

Per investigative findings, Red Command stands as the sole illegal faction that in the past few years has managed to expand its territory across the region.

It is widely considered among the biggest criminal organizations nationally, in company with a rival criminal group, and has a history extending half a century.

According to Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares, with extensive experience documenting crime in Rio over many years, Red Command "functions as a network" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "commercial associates".

The organization engages primarily in narcotics distribution, while also dealing in weapons, gold, energy resources, beverages cigarettes.

According to the authorities, gang members possess significant weaponry and police said that while the action was underway, they faced assaults using drone-delivered explosives.

The state leader of the state, the political leader, characterized organization participants as "narcoterrorists" and called the four police officers who died during the operation as courageous individuals.

But the number of fatalities in the operation has faced scrutiny from international human rights authorities expressing they felt "shocked".

At a news conference the following day, the state leader supported law enforcement.

"There was no objective to cause fatalities. We wanted to detain everyone safely," he said.

He continued that the situation worsened due to the alleged criminals had retaliated: "It was a consequence of the counterattack they carried out and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The official further reported that the casualties shown by residents in Penha were "altered".

Via a statement on online platforms, he claimed that certain victims had been removed of the camouflage clothing that he stated they possessed "to transfer accusation to security forces".

Felipe Curi of Rio's civil police force also said that tactical gear, body armor, and firearms" had been removed from the victims and showed footage apparently demonstrating a man removing tactical gear {off a corpse