Spaniard arrested in Brazil with ton of cocaine. Private jet grounded before flight to Europe

A SPANISH citizen has been arrested in Brazil as the only passenger on a private jet heading for Europe with an illicit cargo of cocaine.

The aircraft was stopped on the tarmac and the unnamed Spaniard was held along with four members of the crew – all Turkish nationals – as federal police swooped. All have been held for questioning.

Officers discovered 1,304kg was stuffed inside 24 suitcases on board the Turkish aircraft, which had touched down in Recife in the north east of the country to complete immigration paperwork enroute to Belgium.

Police later released a video showing the moment the Spanish passenger was asked to open one of the cases in the presence of the captain – after repeatedly denying the case was his, the man opens it to reveal it was stuffed with packages. A policeman slashes one open to reveal a white powder.

And police say each case contained 50 of the packages. According to the Brazilian authorities, the Spaniard gave vague answers when quizzed by security personnel about his reasons for his trip to south America.