Brazil’s new president Jair Bolsonaro is in the news after a report of a member of Bolsonaro’s entourage was arrested in Seville after police found a total of 89 pounds of cocaine in his luggage. The president had a lot of attention during his campaign due to his far-right ideas and promise to crack down on drugs. Yet, recently, The affiliate was actually a member of Bolsonaro’s aircrew and was identified as Sergeant Manoel Silva Rodrigues. Rodrigues was accompanying Bolsonaro to the G20 summit which was held in Japan and the crew member was flying ahead in a separate plane.
Moreover, in an attempt to disguise the cocaine as “cheese” according to reports by NPR. Bolsonaro tweeted that he had “no relationship” with the individual arrested and that his team considered the incident to be “unacceptable.” “I demanded an immediate investigation and severe punishment of the person responsible for the narcotic material found on the FAB plane. We will not tolerate such disrespect to our country!” was the translation of what he wrote. Relatedly, Brazil’s Defense Ministry shared with BBC that they were “investigating the facts and launching a military police inquiry.” As such, the discovery of cocaine on the flight crew member was particularly embarrassing for the Brazilian leader considering he campaigned an extreme, no-tolerance stance on drugs and crime.
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