'They slit my son’s throat' says mother of teen killed in Rio raid

THE head, its hair dyed red, was severed from the body and found in dense vegetation near a Rio favela, some 24 hours after Brazil’s deadliest-ever police operation.

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It belonged to 19-year-old Iago Ravel. His mother has no doubt her son was executed by Brazil’s security forces.

“They slit my son's throat, cut his neck, and hung the head from a tree like a trophy,’ Raquel Tomas said through grief and anger.

“They executed my son without giving him a chance to defend himself. He was murdered,” she said, her voice shaking.

At least 119 people - 115 alleged gang members and four police officers - were killed this week in the largest police operation Rio de Janeiro has seen in its recent troubled past.

Some officials put the toll as high as 132 and many relatives are still looking for loved ones.

Police say the raids involving 2 500 security personnel targeted the Comando Vermelho - the Red Command - Rio’s main criminal group and a significant player in South America’s cocaine trade.