Police capture high-profile Brazilian fugitive

Acting on a tip-off today, police captured a high-profile Brazilian fugitive who was among several inmates who escaped from a Boa Vista prison in July.

Reports are that Euclid Da Silva also known as Euclides Erian Da Silva or Euclid Saigo, described as one of Brazil’s most wanted fugitives, was caught in a house at Ogle on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) this afternoon by the police. The man was being grilled at CID headquarters this evening by local law enforcement officials.

According to a police source, the man was among several persons who broke out of a prison at Boa Vista, located close to the border with Lethem in late July.

Reports are that the man travelled to the city along with several persons on an aircraft owned by a local airline at Ogle. It was chartered specially for him from Lethem.

According to the source, police tracked the man soon after he arrived at the Ogle airport to the house located in that area. He has been in the country for more than three weeks, the source said.

In July 2010, the man was held by local police for allegedly forging a Guyanese birth certificate on which he purported to show that he was born here. The man operated a business in the city and at the time of his arrest, a move was made in the courts to have his deportation blocked after his true identity was determined. However, he was already in the custody of the  Brazilian police and was later handed over to the authorities at the Lethem border.

Da Silva was serving time in a Brazilian prison after he was found guilty in the late 1990s for drug trafficking and money laundering. He was serving a 29-year prison sentence at the time.

Reports are that arrangements are being made to have the man, who lived here under the name Euclid Da Silva, deported back to Brazil.