The raid was Rio's bloodiest since police killed 19 alleged traffickers in Alemao in May [AFP]

Three officers were wounded when about 500 police officers backed by helicopters and armed vehicles confronted alleged traffickers in the Coreira and Senador Camara slums, police said.
 
Eleven arrests were made and five rifles, a machine gun, four hand grenades and unspecified quantities of cocaine and marijuana were confiscated, police said.

State authorities said the boy, Jorge Kaua Silva Lacerda, was shot in the heart by a stray bullet and died in hospital.
 
On Wednesday, police also carried out raids in the Cidade de Deus and Vila Cruzeiro slums.

Sergio Cabral, Rio de Janeiro's governor, said: "Security authorities have a blank cheque to go after drug traffickers. They have my support."

Since being elected to office in January, Cabral has pledged a relentless crackdown on drug gangs and their control over Rio's many slums, known as favelas.

Human rights groups accuse the police of widespread corruption and violence, and say they routinely justify killing civilians by alleging they are gang members resisting arrest.

Since July, more than 50 people have died in clashes with police in Rio's favelas.

The raids on Wednesday were the deadliest since police killed 19 alleged traffickers in the Alemao slum in May.

Rio is one of the world's most violent cities, with an annual murder rate of about 50 killed per 100,000 inhabitants.

Most of the killings are in the favelas which are widely controlled by armed gangs.

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