What a dope!
A Brazilian air force member was caught carrying about 36 kilos (79.3 pounds) of cocaine during a stopover in Spain — on a government plane en route to the G20 summit in Japan.
Sgt. Manoel Silva Rodrigues, 38, was on the advance team for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s trip to Osaka when the plane stopped in the southern Spanish city of Seville to refuel on Tuesday.
A crack team of Civil Guard agents found the stash of 37 packets of cocaine in three bags carried by the airhead airman, who claimed he was carrying cheese, according to Spanish news outlet ABC.
Bolsonaro followed on another plane, which reportedly changed its route to avoid Seville and stop instead in Lisbon, Portugal, Brazilian news outlet Folha de S. Paulo reported.
Rodrigues also has served as a flight steward for two other Brazilian presidents, according to the outlet.
Brazilian air force officials said Rodrigues was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking.
Bolsonaro — who has promised a zero tolerance on Brazil’s rampant drug trade — reacted on Twitter to the embarrassing episode.
“I demanded immediate investigation and severe punishment for the person responsible for the narcotic material found on the [Brazilian air force] plane. We will not tolerate [this] disrespect to our country!” he wrote.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s plane at Osaka Airport ahead of the G20 summitREUTERS“There are around 300,000 men and women in the armed forces who are trained to uphold the highest principles of ethics and morality,” added the populist leader, who is expected to meet with President Trump on Friday, according to the Washington Post.
“If the airman is found to have committed a crime, he will be tried and convicted according to the law,” he said.
Rodrigues had been assigned to remain in Spain and embark on Bolsonaro’s plane for the final leg of his return trip, according to Reuters.
But the Brazilian air force said that when Bolsonaro returns to Brazil, his plane will pass through Seattle — not Seville.
“Obviously, given the quantity of the drug he was carrying, he didn’t buy it on the corner and bring it, right? He was working as a mule. A well-qualified mule, so to speak,” Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao said in Brasilia.
With Post wires
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