Lídio Lopes' aide caught with R$ 127K and arrested in Mato Grosso do.

The aide to state representative Lídio Lopes, of the Avante party, was arrested in Iguatemi, Mato Grosso do Sul, this Wednesday (30) after being caught with R$ 127 thousand in cash and attempting to bribe police officers with R$ 5 thousand each to prevent the incident from proceeding.

What happened in Iguatemi

The vehicle driven by the aide, José Antônio Pires de Souza, was near a bar in Iguatemi when the Military Police approached the car after receiving a report that a vehicle was speeding through the city. The stop occurred on a route known to be used for drug trafficking, smuggling, and tax evasion.

During the search, officers found 10 brown packages with cash in a black backpack and, in another pink bag, clothes and electoral propaganda materials. One of the packages contained R$ 14 thousand in R$ 50 and R$ 100 bills. The aide stated that the money totaled between R$ 60 thousand and R$ 100 thousand, but could not explain its origin.

Campaign materials found

• Sanctions, banners and stickers referring to representative Lídio Lopes
• Switched-off cell phone with the candidate's sticker
• Electoral propaganda materials, such as 'santinhos' (small campaign flyers) and banners

Attempted bribery and arrest

Upon being informed that he would be taken to the police station to provide clarification, the aide offered R$ 5 thousand to each police officer on the team to prevent the incident from proceeding. The attempted bribery resulted in his arrest.

Broader investigations

On the same Wednesday, a woman was taken to the police station in Corumbá after being caught with R$ 1.7 thousand in cash and electoral propaganda materials suspected of being used for vote-buying. On September 25, the Federal Police seized over R$ 250 thousand in cash during the execution of warrants at the committee and residence of state representative and re-election candidate Márcio Fernandes, of the PL party, in Campo Grande.

Reaction from representative Lídio Lopes

The representative's press office stated that he had withdrawn R$ 100 thousand from his personal account for expenses related to rural properties and that, after leaving the bank branch, he was approached by Federal Police agents, who executed warrants at his residence and campaign committee. The press office declared that nothing irregular was found at the locations and that the candidate was not arrested, as he was not the target of an arrest warrant.

With information from G1.