Rio: Brazilian police on Sunday confirmed that they had successfully thwarted a planned bomb attack targeting Lady Gaga’s record-breaking concert on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, which drew more than 2.1 million people on Saturday.

The Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, working with the Justice Ministry, revealed that a group involved in promoting hate speech and teenage radicalisation had been recruiting minors to execute violent attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails.

Authorities noted that the suspects identified as part of Gaga’s fan base, the “Little Monsters,” though their actions were clearly criminal and extremist.

The plot was uncovered following a tip-off received by Rio state police intelligence, and subsequent investigation by the Justice Ministry's Cyber Operations Lab revealed online cells spreading violent content, coded language, and extremist symbols targeting young people.

Police arrested the alleged group leader in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul for illegal firearm possession, while a teenager in Rio was detained for possession of child pornography. Over a dozen search and seizure operations were conducted across four states — Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Mato Grosso, and Rio Grande do Sul.

Authorities have not confirmed whether Lady Gaga or her team were made aware of the threat in real time, but the scale of the operation and the attendance figures underscore the severity of the planned attack.