Brazilian crime boss goes on the run after release from prison

André Oliveira Macedo, also known as André do Rap, was discharged from a high-security jail on Saturday - but this decision was revoked just hours later. He has been missing since.

Macedo is a superior member of the São Paulo-based First Command of the Capital (PCC) organisation, which endures power in jails across Brazil and Paraguay and smuggles tonnes of cocaine into Europe.

His release was the outcome of a contentious command by Judge Marco Aurélio Mello, one of 11 justices on Brazil's Supreme Court.

Judge Mello allowed Macedo's discharge from the São Paulo prison on the grounds that the amount of time he had spent in confinement expecting trial had surpassed the legal maximum. He was captured in September 2019 and had been restrained since.

After his release from prison, Macedo was commanded to go into house arrest. The order to release him was controversial. São Paulo state governor Joao Doria called it "an unacceptable condescension to criminals".

Within a few moments, High Court president Luiz Fux had rejected the ruling and ordered Macedo to be re-arrested and returned to prison quickly. However, by this time he was already gone - with some local reports implying he fled the country. No details have been provided by

investigators in São Paulo on the search.