A firefight broke out between police and suspected criminals during a raid in a Sao Goncalo slum in Rio de Janeiro’s metropolitan area early Thursday. 13 people were killed.
According to the Rio police, all those killed in the raid are criminals. Two people are in custody, and a large amount of weapons were seized, AP and AFP state.
The objective was to capture members of the Comando Vermelho gang, from the state of Para in northern Brazil, who took refuge in the area. According to the newspaper O Globo, the leader of a cartel that targets drug trafficking was killed.