Source: REUTERS/Paul Childs
[Saba Sports News] According to Brazilian media reports, West Ham United star Lucas Paqueta’s brother, Mateus Paqueta, was briefly detained by police on suspicion of being a car thief, but was later confirmed to have been assisting in locating the stolen vehicle and was released. The report states that Botafogo left-back Hugo Goncalves was robbed on Thursday afternoon in the Sao Cristovao area of northern Rio de Janeiro, with his vehicle and personal belongings taken by two assailants. The assailants then demanded a ransom of 60,000 reais. Police tracked the stolen vehicle using the GPS from the stolen phone and found it had been moved to the Bora Bora neighborhood in Barra da Tijuca. Local police discovered Mateus Paqueta and Eliverton Geddes at the scene, holding the keys to the stolen vehicle, and they were taken to the police station. Upon investigation, they claimed they were helping to recover the vehicle through contacts in a favela, which was confirmed by Hugo himself, and they were subsequently treated as witnesses. It is worth mentioning that Mateus was a professional player and played for Tombense in 2022; he now participates in futsal X1 competitions.