Brazilian police announced Sunday the arrest of two individuals linked to a thwarted plot to bomb Lady Gaga’s packed concert in Rio de Janeiro.
Rio’s civil police, in collaboration with the Justice Ministry, confirmed they had prevented the attack at the superstar’s free concert in Copacabana on Saturday night, which drew up to 2 million attendees.
Writing on X, Rio police said they arrested an adult "responsible for the plot" and a teenager in the operation codenamed "Fake Monster" – a reference to Lady Gaga's pet name for her fans, "Little Monsters."
The police said the suspects had recruited people online to "carry out attacks using improvised explosives" in an effort "aimed at gaining notoriety on social media."
Raids were carried out across Rio de Janeiro state, as well as in Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, and Mato Grosso.
Lady Gaga’s concert was the second million-strong show on Copacabana beach in a year, following a massive concert by Madonna last year.
Security was extremely tight for Saturday's performance, with some 5,000 officers, drones, and both surveillance and facial-recognition cameras deployed.
