Military Court Sentences Ex‑Sargento for Carrying 37 kg of Cocaine on FAB Support Plane

Overview

• The Justiça Militar convicted Manoel da Silva Rodrigues on Tuesday and sentenced him to three years of reclusion plus fines for association for trafficking connected to 37 kilograms of cocaine found in his luggage in Seville.
• Manoel was arrested during a June 2019 stopover on a presidential‑support mission to the G20 in Japan and was expelled from the Brazilian Air Force in 2022.
• He is already serving about six years in Spain for the same seizure and an extradition request to Brazil is pending, creating parallel prosecutions across two countries.
• The military ruling said Manoel knowingly used his position and mission protocols to reduce the chance his baggage would be searched, while the court acquitted him on a money‑laundering count.
• Two alleged organizers received long prison terms and four co‑defendants were absolved, and the verdict could deepen scrutiny of Air Force procedures and affect the outcome of ongoing appeals and the extradition process.