SEVILLLE, SPAIN- A crewman of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was accused of carrying a garment bag filled with 36 kilograms of cocaine while they were boarding Bolsonaro’s plane en route to the G20 summit held in Osaka, Japan.
Sergeant Manoel Silva Rodrigues, 38-years old, has been arrested by the Spanish authorities on Tuesday after their scheduled stopover at Seville, Spain. Authorities seized the drug that was divided into 37 blocks which he denied and said he was carrying cheese.
The serviceman is now under the custody of the authorities and is being held in a Spanish prison without bail. He’s charged with crimes against public health. But there are no reports yet if he will be extradited to Brazil.
Rodrigues serves as a flight steward who has worked internationally dozens of times, including trips with three different Brazilian presidents, according to Folha. In a note about the arrest, Brazil’s air force says that when Bolsonaro returns to Brazil, his plane will not pass through Seville but through Seattle in the U.S.
Bolsonaro confirmed the arrests in a tweet but claimed that it was unrelated to his team and will make sure that the person behind it will be held liable.
The Brazilian president is widely known for being critical of drug trafficking and crime in Brazil. He is also very supportive of the fact that authorities have the right to kill a suspected drug criminals
