MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rio de Janeiro and federal government launch joint task force against organized crime

Castro and Lewandowski agreed to tackle crime in a coordinated manner

Brazil's Justice and Security Minister Ricardo Lewandowski and Rio de Janeiro State Governor Cláudio Castro announced on Wednesday the creation of an emergency office to tackle organized crime at a local level in a coordinated manner between the federal and state governments.

Coordination will be shared between the National Secretary of Public Security, Mario Sarrubbo, and Rio's Public Security Secretary Victor Santos.

”It is a forum where the forces will talk to each other and make decisions quickly until the crisis is overcome. This is the embryo of what we want to create with the Public Security PEC (Constitutional Amendment Proposal) that is being discussed in the National Congress. We want to bring together federal, state, and even municipal forces to combat this scourge,“ Lewandowski explained.

The idea is that actions will be ”100% integrated“ to overcome bureaucracy and respect the competencies of each agency, according to the governor of Rio.

”Try to eliminate barriers so that we can truly provide public security that serves our true and only client, which is the citizen,” Castro noted.

The measure comes after Operation Containment in the Alemão and Penha favelas left more than 100 dead. The action is considered the deadliest in the country's history. In retaliation, criminals linked to the Comando Vermelho blocked streets in various parts of the city with vehicles and barricades.

Este era el escenario en la favela Complexo da Penha esta mañana:

Una fila de cuerpos negros. Personas ejecutadas por la policía de Rio de Janeiro que no tuvieron la oportunidad de defenderse en un juicio justo. Vidas interrumpidas por la política de exterminio del gobernador… pic.twitter.com/cPQkz5aF9q

— André Vieira (@AndreteleSUR) October 29, 2025

Lewandowski said that the federal government would increase the number of Federal Highway Police officers on the roads by 50 and the number of intelligence agents in the state. Experts and vacancies in federal prisons were also made available, should the state government request them.

The meeting at Rio's Guanabara Palace took place after Governor Cláudio Castro demanded more support from the federal government in confronting criminal organizations operating in the state. According to Castro, the state is acting “alone in this war.”

On the same day, Lewandowski said he had not received a request for help from the governor for the operation. The minister recalled that, earlier this year, the governor of Rio visited the Justice Ministry and requested the transfer of criminal faction leaders to maximum-security federal prisons, which was granted.

The Rio government has frequently used the term “narco-terrorism” to refer to organized crime. When asked about the term, Lewandowski said that it does not apply to the reality of the state.

“Terrorism is one thing, criminal factions are another. Terrorism always involves an ideological issue. It is a political act, social repression with sporadic attacks. Criminal factions are made up of groups of people who systematically commit crimes that are listed in the Penal Code. Therefore, it is very easy to identify what a criminal faction is by the results of its actions,” he pointed out while adding that the law clearly establishes the classifications for criminal organizations and terrorist groups. “These are two types of activities that should not be confused, and the federal government has no intention of mixing them,” he stressed.

Lewandowski and Castro ruled out the possibility of using the Armed Forces to provide state security through the enactment of a Law and Order Guarantee (GLO).

“We have not expressed an opinion in this regard [for or against]. GLO is provided for in Article 142 of the Federal Constitution. It is an exceptional operation, which depends on a request from the governor, or in this case, the governor or local authority who recognizes the inability of local forces to deal with a crisis situation,” said the minister.

Castro also denied having considered requesting the measure. “This [GLO] only came up because I mentioned the issue of armored vehicles, which we had requested on three other occasions and were denied because a GLO would be necessary. The situation of the security forces in Rio de Janeiro today is completely different from that of 2018. Today we have a capable state security force,” said the governor. (Source: Agencia Brasil)