Airman travelling with Brazilian G20 delegation arrested for drug trafficking

Brasilia: A Brazilian Air Force official, who was part of President Jair Bolsonaro's advance team for the G20 summit in Japan, was arrested in Sevilla after 39kgs of cocaine was found in his luggage.

The plane had a stopover in Spain before completing their trip to Japan.

A spokesman for the Guardia Civil said the man was arrested on Tuesday after his plane landed at the Andalucían airport.

“The serviceman was travelling on a military plane that had flown in from Brazil and stopped over at Seville airport en route to Tokyo,” he said.

“The serviceman was found to have cocaine in his hand baggage that weighed a total of 39kg. He was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and is currently in custody at our Seville headquarters waiting to appear before a judge,” he added.

Bolsonaro confirmed the news in a statement on Tuesday night, saying he had been informed of the airman’s arrest by the country’s defence minister.

“I immediately ordered the defence minister to cooperate with Spanish police to establish the facts and cooperate with every stage of the investigation, and to launch an investigation by the military police,” he said.