Moraes orders preventive arrest of Silvinei Vasques after attempted escape and ankle bracelet violation

According to federal police, in the early hours of December 25, Silvinei Vasques’ electronic surveillance equipment had no GPS signal and, a few hours later, no data communications, likely due to a dead battery. Given the alert, the PF teams carried out investigations at the defendant’s address, in São José (SC), but were unable to find him.

In the decision, Moraes states that all of the information “demonstrates the violation of the precautionary measure of electronic surveillance and indicates the execution of the escape”, characterizing a concrete risk for the application of criminal law. The minister recalls that, when granting provisional release in August 2024, he had expressly warned that non-compliance with one of the conditions imposed would result in a prison sentence.

“The escape of the accused, characterized by the violation of the precautionary measures imposed without any justification, authorizes the conversion of the precautionary measures into preventive detention,” writes Moraes in the decision.

“The information brought into the file by the Federal Police therefore indicates the escape of the defendant SILVINEI VASQUES, emphasizing the police authority that ‘there is no way to specify the reasons for the violation of the electronic ankle bracelet or the location where SILVINEI VASQUES is located, nor if the ankle bracelet itself would still be in the apartment'”, indicates the text.

The former director general of the Federal Highway Police was arrested this Friday at the international airport of Asunción, Paraguay. He was trying to board a plane whose final destination was El Salvador, in Central America. Silvinei was arrested with an original passport that did not match his information.