The former director general of the Federal Highway Police (PRF) Silvinei Vasques was transferred to Brasília this Saturday, 27th, after spending the night at the Federal Police headquarters in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná. Vasques was arrested this Friday, 26th, in Paraguay when he tried to board a flight to El Salvador with false documents.
The attempt to escape from Brazil, after being sentenced by the STF to more than 24 years in prison for attempting a coup d’état, is still surrounded by doubts: from the preparations to the act at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport, in Asunción.
The Minister of the Federal Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, requested the arrest of the former director of the PRF, preventively, based on a report from the Federal Police that detailed some points of Vasques’ escape plan. He is detained in Brasília.
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See what is known about the episode and what remains to be clarified:
Preparations
The former PRF director had been wearing an electronic ankle bracelet since August 2024, when he was released from another preventive detention order. On the 16th of this month, Silvinei Vasques was convicted by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for commanding illegal blitzes in the 2022 elections with the aim of disrupting the flow of voters in the Northeast who could vote for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).
According to the PF report, the former director of the PRF left his residence on the night of Christmas Eve, on Wednesday, the 24th, before the ankle bracelet stopped working.
The ex-PRF’s latest records indicate that he left the condominium where he lives, in São José, Santa Catarina, at around 7:22 pm that day. Minutes earlier, Silvinei loaded a rented vehicle with bags, food and sanitary mats for domestic animals. He boarded with a pitbull dog. After that, according to the PF, the former PRF director was no longer seen.
However, the PF does not clarify how Silvinei rented a silver Volkswagen Polo from a car rental company, nor how the vehicle ended up in the parking lot of the former PRF building. At Vasques’ residence, only a White Jeep Renegade was registered. There are also doubts about paying for the rental of the vehicle that was used by Vasques to escape from Santa Catarina to Paraguay.
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Silvinei left the place dressed in black sweatpants, a gray Puma t-shirt and a black cap. There is also no information on how the former PRF’s clothes were changed, as at the time of his arrest, Silvinei Vasques was wearing a green shirt.
ankle bracelet problems
After the escape, police officers went to Silvinei’s building, after the ankle bracelet signal presented the first problems. The PF reported to Moraes that the electronic equipment used by Silvinei ran out of GPS signal at around 3am last Thursday, the 25th and, around 1pm on the same day, the device ran out of GRPS signal, which indicates that it could have discharged it.
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It remains to be clarified how Silvinei Vasques broke the ankle bracelet and where he left the equipment, as the PF itself reports to the Supreme Court: “It is still not possible to specify the reasons for the violation of the electronic ankle bracelet and it is also not possible to say whether the equipment was left in Silvinei Vasques’ apartment.”
Fake passport
Silvinei Vasques was arrested in Paraguay when he tried to board a flight to El Salvador with false documents. He used the identity of Julio Eduardo. During the comparison of photos, numbers and fingerprints, it was confirmed that Silvinei was not the same person presented in the document.
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During the approach, Silvinei ended up confessing that the documents were not his. Silvinei was expelled from Paraguay and taken to Brazil for not declaring his entry into the country in accordance with migration law.
On the Paraguayan side, the Public Ministry of Paraguay will investigate whether the documents used by Silvinei were lost or stolen.
On the Brazilian side, we still need to find out who Julio Eduardo is, who the man appears in the passport photo is, how Silvinei Vasques acquired the document and paid for this issuance.
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There are also doubts about how the statement that Silvinei Vasques presented to the Paraguayan police was produced in which he stated that he had head cancer and could not speak.
Dog’s disappearance
As reported by the PF, the latest images of the former PRF indicate that he left the condominium where he lives, in São José (SC), at around 7:22 pm on the 24th. Minutes before, Silvinei loaded a rented vehicle with items for domestic animals and boarded with a pitbull dog.
There is still no information whether the dog was also taken by Silvinei to the airport in Paraguay. And, if he didn’t take it, where and with whom did he leave the animal.
