Brasília

Leaders of the Airforce refused to say whether Air Force second sergeant Manoel Silva Rodrigues, arrested in Spain with 39 kg of cocaine, underwent inspection before boarding an aircraft in support of President Jair Bolsonaro's entourage.

At a news conference, the spokesman for the Brazilian Air Force (FAB), Major Daniel Rodrigues Oliveira, was asked numerous times on the subject. In every reply, he repeated that the issue is confidential because it's a military police investigation.

Air Force second sergeant Manoel Silva Rodrigues, 38, was arrested in Seville, Spain, with 39 kg of cocaine. Credit: hiveminer.com - hiveminer.com

He said that the security procedure adopted by the Air Force for transfer missions includes pre-boarding screenings, such as passenger and baggage inspection, but he did not say whether support aircraft follows this procedure.

"Specifically about this case, it is the subject of investigation and is confidential," he said. "We have no way of making an analogy in this fact, which is under investigation. The practice is for crew members to go through security, where there is a screening of the crew and baggage," he added.

According to members of the government, the support crew is seldom subjected to police checks or metal detectors before embarking in Brazil. Now the president's support staff is insisting that the Armed Forces adopt a more rigorous security procedure.

In the interview, the spokesperson said the Armed Forces had not given support to the arrested sergeant. The consulate general of Brazil in Madrid provides consular assistance, maintaining contact with the accused and his relatives.

Behind the scenes, the military's top bet is that the sergeant was paid to transport the material to Spain, where he would hand it over to a criminal group.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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