Brazilian authorities are really going after some of the loyalists of imprisoned ex-President Jair Bolsonaro. In the latest, a former Brazilian police chief who fled the country after being convicted for his role in an alleged "attempted coup" linked to Bolsonaro has been arrested in Paraguay.

Silvinei Vasques was detained Friday at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport in Asunción, Paraguay authorities confirmed in a statement. He was detained charges of "identity theft" after trying to bypass immigration checks by posing as a Paraguayan citizen.

Paraguay border police image after Silvinei Vasques caught in country illegally. 

He was trying to board a flight to Panama, claiming El Salvador as his final destination. Apparently he didn't enter Paraguay legally, but entered "clandestinely" while "evading justice in his home country."

Vasques as a powerful former police official in Brazil was accused of ordering highway patrol officers to block voters in left-leaning regions during the 2022 election, which Bolsonaro eventually lost to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

He was arrested in 2023 and released under supervision with an electronic ankle monitor while awaiting trial. His legal proceedings have been running simultaneously to the more high profile Bolsonaro case.

At the conclusion of his trial, Vasques was sentenced to more than two years in prison to be served under house arrest, after which he fled the country. Regional reports indicated that he broke his ankle monitor and drove into Paraguay.

But he apparently made a break for it after on Friday Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the former police chief's preventive detention as a precaution.

Other alleged co-conspirators who are allies of Bolsonaro have also fled. One notable one is former intelligence agency director Alexandre Ramagem, who earlier left Brazil in September and has since been living in the United States.

Fake passports found on 'wanted' ex highway police chief as he was trying to make it to El Salvador...

El exdirector de la Policía de Tránsito Federal brasileña, Silvinei Vasques, llega a Brasil tras ser entregado por las autoridades paraguayas.

El Director de Migración de Paraguay, Jorge Kronawetter, informó que al contrastar datos se confirmó que Vasques portaba un documento… https://t.co/XXtJH58nV6 pic.twitter.com/EBzOw5PFBz

— Nacho Lemus (@LemusteleSUR) December 27, 2025

As for Bolsonaro himself, once dubbed the "Brazilian Donald Trump" - at the age of 70 he is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted in September of trying to prevent Lula from taking office.

Last week the former president underwent surgery for a hernia, and has been suffering a variety of health problems while first under house arrest and now under confinement, after he too was caught trying to break his ankle monitor.

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