‘I’ll take care of myself, Dad. I love you,’ said one of the dead in Penha during the police mega-operation that left over 120 dead

In the midst of a line formed by dozens of bodies lying in front of a daycare center in Vila Cruzeiro, in the Complexo da Penha, North Zone of Rio, a grandfather – who raised his grandson as his son – said he couldn’t see the body of Jean Alex Santos Campos, known as Café, 17 years old, on Wednesday morning, as it had already been removed by the coroner. The young man was one of the over 120 dead in the mega-operation carried out by the Civil and Military Police in Penha and Alemão, the deadliest in the state’s history, held on Tuesday. Lined corpses: Residents carry dozens of bodies to the square in Penha after the deadliest operation in Rio’s history Mega-operation in Rio: total dead surpasses Carandiru At 63, the man, who preferred to remain anonymous, shared that his son was always a good musician and played football. – But within the community, we end up losing to that (points to the line of bodies). You lose your child twice: once when he can no longer listen to you (and turns to crime) and then when he dies – he said, emotional. Complexes targeted by the operation function as the Red Command’s headquarters and house the faction’s main leaders According to the man, he recently had a heart attack because of his son’s ‘issues’, which kept him away from work. – I spoke to him for the last time at 4am yesterday. He said, ‘I’ll take care of myself, Dad, I love you very much,’ and sent a heart. Then he didn’t say anything else. A friend of his saw him being arrested. We went to the police station yesterday, but the officer told us to come back today. And then we found his body in the forest – he concluded. A day not to be forgotten: understand the dynamics that led to Rio’s deadliest police operation Real-time: See how Rio is one day after the police operation in the Alemão and Penha complexes, the deadliest in the state’s history A woman, who also preferred not to be identified, shared that she is not related to any of the deceased but went to offer support and help friends. The sight of bodies is something she has never seen before in her 37 years living in the Complexo da Penha. – You can’t help but sympathize. We want to show the reality we live in here. There are dead with signs of torture. Three without heads, others with stab wounds, without fingers. I only ask one question, for the governor to answer: what is right for him? In my view, this is not right How to fight factions? After chaos in Rio, experts advocate integration and intelligence to ‘follow the money’ Relatives go to the IML Relatives of the dead in the operation walk along the sidewalk in front of the Municipal Institute of Forensic Medicine (IML) Afrânio Peixoto, in downtown Rio, on Wednesday afternoon to start the documentation process and be able to identify the bodies of the victims. This is the case of a resident of Arraial do Cabo, in the Lakes Region, who recounts the drama of seeing the body of the father of her 1 year and 5 months old daughter, lying on the square in the Complexo da Penha. According to her, the cadaver had a perforation in the chest and large injuries on the head and one of the legs. ‘It was a horror movie’: With a van and 4×4, bodies are rescued in the forest after a 12-hour operation – They said the body may be released tomorrow or even later – she reported. Removal of bodies Since 9 pm on Tuesday, a group made up of volunteers and relatives of the deceased in the mega-operation has been dedicated to removing bodies from Vacaria, an area of forest at the top of the Complexo da Penha, and positioning them in the so-called Praça do Inter. Alemão and Penha are targets of a mega-operation to contain the advance of the Red Command Operation mobilizes 2,500 police officers and prosecutors from Gaeco The bodies are being taken, in addition to the IML in downtown, to the Municipal Institutes of Forensic Medicine (IMLs) in downtown Rio, Campo Grande in the West Zone of the capital, and Niterói in the Metropolitan Region of the state. Relatives of the deceased are being informed that, due to the large number, the release of the bodies will be delayed. * Intern under the supervision of Leila Youssef Latest Next Castro describes as ‘success’ operation with over 120 dead: ‘we only had victims there who were the police’ Subscribe to the Newsletter: Rio News