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Bruno Itan

A photographer who documented the results of an extensive law enforcement action in the metropolitan area has reported how local people brought back disfigured remains of the deceased individuals.

The victims "kept coming: 25, 30, 35, 40, 45...", Bruno Itan described. They included those of police officers.

A particular victim was found without a head - others were "completely mutilated", he reported. Several bodies showed what he described as stab wounds.

More than 120 people lost their lives in the Tuesday operation on a criminal gang - the most lethal operation Rio has experienced.

The eyewitness stated that residents first notified him to the raid Tuesday morning by community members from the Alemão area, who sent him messages telling him there was a shoot-out.

The reporter made his way to the healthcare center, where the victims were arriving.

The photographer stated that the police prevented journalists from entering the operation zone, where the security measures were taking place.

"Law enforcement personnel established a perimeter and declared: 'Journalists cannot proceed beyond this point'."

But Itan, who grew up in the community, stated he managed to make his way into the restricted zone, where he continued until the next morning.

He reported that Tuesday night, local residents commenced searching the mountainous area that separates the Penha neighborhood from the neighboring Alemão community for loved ones who had been missing following the security action.

Community members living in Penha arranged the recovered bodies in a square - and Itan's photos show the emotions of those present.

"The brutality of what occurred impacted me deeply: the grief of the families, women collapsing, women carrying children, sobbing, outraged parents," the reporter recounted.

The eyewitness

The state leader of the region announced that the massive police operation with approximately 2,500 law enforcement members was designed to halting an illegal organization known as Red Command from expanding its territory.

Initially, state authorities claimed that "60 suspects and four police officers" were fatally injured in the operation.

Authorities later reported that early calculations suggests that 117 alleged criminals lost their lives.

Rio's public defender's office, that gives legal support to low-income residents, has estimated the total number of casualties at 132.

Per investigative findings, the gang is the only criminal group that in the past few years has managed to make territorial gains throughout Rio state.

It is widely considered as a major illegal faction in Brazil, together with First Capital Command, featuring a timeline spanning over five decades.

Per Brazilian journalist an expert, who has been covering criminal activity in the city extensively, the gang "operates like a franchise" with neighborhood bosses joining the organization and acting as "business partners".

The organization focuses mainly on drug trafficking, additionally trafficking guns, precious metals, energy resources, liquor cigarettes.

According to the authorities, gang members are well armed and officials reported that during the raid, they came under attack via weaponized unmanned aircraft.

The state leader of the state, the political leader, described organization participants as drug terrorists and described the law enforcement personnel who died during the operation as brave public servants.

Nevertheless, the total of fatalities in the security action has faced scrutiny with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights stating they were "horrified".

In a media appearance the following day, the state leader justified security actions.

"We did not plan to kill anyone. We intended to detain everyone safely," he declared.

He further explained that the situation intensified as the individuals fought back: "It occurred of the resistance they implemented and the excessive violence from the gang members."

The governor additionally stated that the bodies displayed by locals in the area had been "tampered with".

In a post on social media, he said that particular individuals had been removed of the camouflage clothing which he claimed they wore "to redirect responsibility toward law enforcement".

A law enforcement representative of Rio's civil police force further reported that tactical gear, protective equipment, and weapons" had been removed from the bodies and showed footage appearing to show a man cutting camouflage clothing {off a corpse