Former director of the PRF was arrested when he tried to board false documents to El Salvador and now faces preventive detention in Brazil
The former director of the Federal Highway Police (PRF), Silvinei Vasques, was handed over to the Brazilian Federal Police (PF) this Friday (26), after being detained in Paraguay. He was arrested in Asunción, at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport, when trying to board a flight to El Salvador with forged documents. The arrest came after Vasques violated the conditions of his probation by breaking his electronic ankle bracelet.
Vasques, sentenced by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to 24 years and six months in prison for his involvement in an attempted coup d’état in 2022, was arrested by the Paraguayan authorities and then taken to customs in Cidade do Leste, where he underwent expulsion procedures. He was handed over to Brazilian federal police, who took him to the PF headquarters in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná.
The PF had detected, in the early hours of December 25, a failure in Vasques’ electronic ankle bracelet, which stopped transmitting the GPS signal. This raised suspicions of escape, and the police began searching to locate him. During the investigation, it was discovered that the former PRF had left his apartment in São José (SC) on the night of December 24, using a rented car and taking with him a dog and some belongings.
Upon being detained, Vasques tried to deceive the Paraguayan authorities, presenting false documents and claiming to have a serious illness. However, after verification, he confessed that the documents were not his.
The STF minister, Alexandre de Moraes, decreed Vasques’ preventive detention, highlighting that he tried to escape to escape court orders and the sentence imposed. The PF is now investigating how the former PRF obtained the falsified documents and continues to investigate the details of his escape.
