Brazil’s fugitive ex-spy chief freed in the US after ICE detention

Former Brazilian intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem has been freed ⁠from immigration detention in the United States, where he had fled after being convicted in connection with a coup plot in support of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Paulo ⁠Figueiredo, a far-right Brazilian commentator ⁠based in the US, announced Ramagem’s release in a post on X on Wednesday.

“Alexandre Ramagem is free,” ⁠Figueiredo wrote.

A source from Brazil’s federal police also confirmed his release, according to the Reuters news agency.

As of Wednesday, Ramagem was also no longer ⁠listed among people detained by ICE on its ⁠website. There was no immediate comment from ICE.

Ramagem, also a former lawmaker, was sentenced in September to 16 years in prison for his role in the coup attempt by supporters of Bolsonaro in 2023. Brazil’s federal police said he fled the South American nation before he was due to begin serving his sentence.

Reports state that Ramagem fled Brazil by illegally crossing the border into Guyana before taking a plane to the US.

Ramagem was stripped of his seat in Brazil’s Congress in December as a consequence of his conviction in the coup case one month earlier.

The Brazilian government has sought the extradition of Ramagem.

The Brazilian outlet Globo reported that the Brazilian embassy in Washington, DC, filed documentation with the US Department of State seeking his extradition on December 30, 2025.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Tuesday that he has asked the US to send Ramagem back to Brazil so that he can serve his prison sentence. He also attributed Ramagem’s arrest to his conviction in Brazil.

But Figueiredo, the Brazilian commentator, said Ramagem’s detention in the US state of Florida on Monday was not related to Brazil’s extradition request.

“Ramagem was not arrested, but detained following a police approach in Orlando, initially for a minor traffic infraction and, subsequently, referred to ICE – a common procedure in Florida,” Figueiredo said in a social media post on Monday.

He added that Ramagem has a pending asylum application.

Bolsonaro himself is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted in September.

His trial was depicted by Bolsonaro’s allies as a political witch-hunt, and sparked the ire of US President Donald Trump, who placed large tariffs on Brazil and called for the trial to be thrown out. Trump later relaxed some of those tariffs following improved relations with President Lula.