Jair Bolsonaro’s party president arrested with illegal weapons and gold

Valdemar da Costa Neto, president of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party, was arrested this Thursday in Brasília during a federal police mega-operation against those suspected of plotting a coup at the end of 2022 to keep Bolsonaro in power. Waldemar was one of the targets of the operation, but initially there was no warrant for his arrest, only a search and seizure at the headquarters of the Liberal Party and at the apartment where he lives at the Meliá Hotel in the Brazilian capital.

During a search of the apartment, agents discovered illegal weapons and arrested the veteran politician. All the documents for the pistol have long expired, and it is registered not in the name of the politician, but in the name of his son.

On Thursday evening, federal police sources said Valdemar da Costa Neto would remain in prison because he was denied bail. In addition to the non-standard weapon, the politician also had a gold nugget of very high purity with him and did not present a single document confirming the origin of the precious mineral.

This is not the first time that Valdemar da Costa Neto, one of Brazil’s most controversial and cunning politicians, has been arrested by federal police. In 2005, during the first government of Lula da Silva, of which he was one of the staunchest allies at the time, Waldemar was arrested, convicted and served several years in prison for his role in a corruption scandal that became known as Mensalao. “and who almost removed Lulu from office.

In an impressive turnaround, Valdemar da Costa Neto teamed up with Jair Bolsonaro a few years ago and accepted him into the Liberal Party, which, despite its name, is now far-right. It was through the PL that Bolsonaro tried to be re-elected in 2022, but was defeated by Lula da Silva.

Despite this defeat, the alliance between Bolsonaro and Valdemar was not at all negative for the president of the then insignificant Liberal Party, which had only one deputy in Congress. Bolsonaro, it is true, was defeated, but with his help the Liberal Party managed to elect 99 federal deputies and became the largest parliamentary group in Congress, turning Valdemar da Costa Neto into one of the most important politicians in the country, at least until the action began. this Thursday from the Federal Police, who hit him, the party and its biggest name, Bolsonaro, also the subject of a search and arrest at his home.