Brazil’s federal police arrest 2 fugitives from maximum-security prison after 50-day manhunt

By MAURICIO SAVARESE
Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s federal police have arrested two fugitives who escaped a maximum-security prison in February, bringing a 50-day manhunt to an end. Rogério Mendonça and Deibson Nascimento became the first inmates to ever escape from Brazil’s federal penitentiary system. Brazil’s justice ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the two were arrested in the Amazon city of Maraba, more than 1,600 kilometers — or about 995 miles — west of the Mossoro penitentiary where they were imprisoned in the country’s northeast. Authorities said in March that Mendonça and Nascimento fled through a hole and used tools left by workers during prison renovation works to cut through a wired fence.