Asuncion [Paraguay], December 27 (ANI): A former Brazilian police chief convicted as an accomplice in the attempted coup linked to ex-President Jair Bolsonaro has been arrested in Paraguay after fleeing Brazil, Al Jazeera reported.

Silvinei Vasques was detained on Friday at Silvio Pettirossi International Airport in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, the Paraguayan National Migration Directorate (DNM) said in a statement. The agency said Vasques was arrested for 'identity theft' after 'attempting to evade immigration controls by impersonating a Paraguayan citizen'.

According to the DNM, Vasques was taken into custody while trying to board a flight to Panama, declaring El Salvador as his final destination. The agency said he had 'clandestinely' entered Paraguay while 'evading justice in his home country', Al Jazeera reported.

Paraguayan immigration authorities published images on X showing Vasques's arrest and identification. A separate video clip shared on the same account showed him being handed over to Brazilian federal police at the Friendship Bridge border crossing linking Paraguay's Ciudad del Este with Brazil's Foz do Iguacu.

Vasques, who previously headed Brazil's highway police, was accused of deploying officers to obstruct voters in left-leaning regions during the 2022 elections that Bolsonaro lost to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

He was arrested in 2023 and placed under supervision with an electronic ankle monitor while awaiting trial. Earlier this month, he was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison to be served under house arrest, after which he fled Brazil, Al Jazeera reported.

Brazilian media said Vasques broke his ankle monitor and drove across the border into Paraguay.

Brazil Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Friday ordered the fugitive's preventive detention as a precautionary step, Reuters reported, citing a court document and people familiar with the matter. Vasques's lawyer declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Vasques is not the first official convicted over the 2023 coup attempt to try to escape. In November, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of former intelligence agency chief Alexandre Ramagem, who left the country in September and has since been living in the United States, Al Jazeera reported.

That same month, Justice Moraes also ordered Bolsonaro's detention after the former president attempted to remove his court-mandated ankle monitor using a soldering iron, an act the court viewed as an effort to evade justice.

Bolsonaro, 70, is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted in September of leading a plot to prevent Lula from assuming office. On Thursday, the former president underwent surgery for a hernia, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)