The last bodies of people murdered in an operation in Rio leave the IML (Institute of Forensic Medicine).

Brazil Agency - The last families of those murdered in Operation Containment, carried out by the Rio de Janeiro State government earlier this week in the Penha and Alemão complexes in the northern zone, are beginning to leave the Legal Medical Institute (IML) in downtown Rio de Janeiro. As of yesterday (31), the Civil Police reported that only 8 bodies remained to be identified.

Family members report relief that the ordeal of searching for their children, cousins, and grandchildren is over, but also outrage at the tragedy. 

Pregnant for a few months, 26-year-old Karine Beatriz went to the IML (Institute of Forensic Medicine) to identify the body of her husband, Wagner Nunes Santana, the father of her baby, after three days of searching in the woods. On Friday, she said that he was recovered from a lake in Serra da Misericórdia, in Penha.

"After three days of searching, I managed to locate the body, but I will only feel relieved when I get answers to the questions that won't go away: 'Where does the death penalty come from, if prisons exist, are prisons just for show? How long will this go on?', the government questioned, regarding the high lethality of operations in Rio in recent years. 'We have frightened children, a shaken community, it's a lot of pain,' he lamented."

She said that, regardless of the reasons that led her husband to commit the crime, he was a family man, a hard worker, responsible for supporting and caring for the household.

"Regardless of his mistakes, he was a hard worker, he was family-oriented. Last week, he was helping to build a house in the community, he helped do my daughter's 'crazy hair.' I have a 9-year-old daughter, who wasn't his, and he did her hair for school, took her to play, you know, those are moments that won't come back," she explained.

Wagner's body was pulled from a lake with a gunshot wound to the forehead, according to Karine. The police have not clarified the circumstances of the murder. She says she was in the woods from the very beginning and also alleges that there were executions during the operation.

"They didn't come to arrest anyone, they came to kill. They even killed those who surrendered. I searched, from the first day, I searched for them one by one. I don't know what they did, but the funeral will have to be with a closed coffin," he reported. 

According to the most recent update on Operation Containment, from Friday, 99 people had already been identified by the IML (Institute of Legal Medicine). Of the total, 42 had outstanding arrest warrants and 78 had involvement with crime. 13 were from other states, such as Pará, Bahia and Amazonas, in addition to Ceará, Paraíba and Espírito Santo.

The state government justified the operation as a way to contain the expansion of Comando Vermelho, even though it was unable to execute the warrants against the faction's main leaders. According to the press release, investigations indicated that members of the group were receiving instruction in weaponry, shooting, the use of explosives, and combat tactics in the targeted locations.

The investigation also revealed that the faction's cash flow in these areas involved approximately 10 tons of drugs per month. "Both Alemão and Penha served as supply hubs, distributing drugs and weapons to other communities controlled by the criminal group." 

Despite questions about the effectiveness and costs of the operation for the city of Rio, which came to a standstill on Tuesday but failed to arrest the main crime bosses and regain control of the territory by the State, alongside the high lethality, Governor Cláudio Castro defended the action:

"Given these results, we see that the investigation and intelligence work was adequate; all of them were dangerous and had criminal records. Also, the identification of the origins of these 'narcoterrorists' reinforces the importance of integration with the states. We will soon deliver the complete reports to the competent authorities," said Governor Castro in a statement yesterday.