Plane belonging to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in G20 drug scandal after pilot is caught with 39kg of cocaine
A BRAZILIAN Air Force officer has been arrested after using the President's plane to smuggle 40kg of cocaine into Europe.
The brazen pilot was arrested in Seville, Spain, during a stop-over on the way to the G20 summit in Japan.
A Defence Ministry spokesman said: "On Tuesday June 25th, an Air Force officer suspected of transporting narcotic substances was detained in the Seville airport in Spain.
"We are investigating the facts and are launching a military police inquiry."
The alleged smuggler was identified as Sgt Silva Rodriguez, 38 - and immediately dubbed a "qualified drug mule" by Vice President Hamilton Mourao.
The VP told reporters: "It's obvious that, given the amount of drugs he had on him, that he didn't just buy them around the corner and take them with him.
OFFICER CAUGHT WITH 40KG OF COKE
"He was working as a qualified drug mule, let's put it that way."
Strongman President Jair Bolsonaro, who was travelling on a separate plane, vowed that the officer involved will "be judged and convicted by law."
This year's main G20 forum is being held from June 28 to 29 in Osaka, Japan.
It will be the in the first major meeting between Theresa May and Vladimir Putin since the Salisbury poisoning attack.
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The Russian President will discuss “sensitive questions” at the G20 summit on Friday in an effort to thaw relations, the Kremlin said.
The pair last met informally at the G20 in Argentina last year just months after the Novichok nerve agent incident.
Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia both spent around two months in hospital - but Moscow denies any involvement.
Mrs May said the country’s military intelligence service, the GRU, carried it out with approval at a senior level in the country.
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