A Brazilian man imprisoned for drug trafficking failed in his attempt to escape prison in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday after dressing up as his 19-year-old daughter, who was heading home after visitation hours.
Clauvino da Silva, 42, nicknamed “Shorty,” attempted to escape the Brazilian maximum-security facility by dressing up as his 19-year-old daughter Ana Gabriele Leandro da Silva, who helped smuggle in his disguise.
As part of his disguise, Silva wore a silicone mask, a black bra and wig, and a skin-tight T-shirt emblazoned with three pink doughnuts.
The escape came to a head when a disguised Silva went towards the prison’s entrance and was requested the return of his daughter’s ID card while she remained inside. However, prison officers were left unconvinced by his low-budget disguise and asked him to strip, consequently ending his escape.
Footage of the bizarre incident has now gone viral across social media. Prison officials reportedly said that Silva’s nervousness was what helped them foil his plot, rather than the latex mask and masculine body shape.
Silva, who is serving 73 years in prison for his involvement in the notorious Red Command drug cartel, appears to have tried to emulate the strategies of Mission Impossible hero Ethan Hunt, who used ultra-realistic latex masks to dupe his enemies.
Brazilian media used the story for light-hearted headlines. Rio tabloid Meia Hora asked jokingly if the stunt was part of a sequel to White Chicks, a film in which two black men disguise themselves as white female socialites Brittany and Tiffany Wilson. The Rio daily O Dia mocked Silva with the headline: “Oh, Aren’t I a Naughty Girl?”
Silva has previously succeeded in his attempts to break out of jail. In 2013, he was one of 31 prisoners who tried to escape the same prison complex through its sewers. Although four inmates were caught, Silva and others made it out successfully. He was soon re-arrested after as he tried to seize control of a favela, or poor neighborhood, in western Rio de Janeiro with other armed gang members.
According to local media, Silva has been placed in solitary confinement but is unlikely to face an extended jail sentence as he did not use violent means to escape. However, his daughter now faces up to two years in prison on charges of abetting a jailbreak. Seven other visitors, including a pregnant woman believed to have smuggled the relevant materials of the disguise into the prison, are also being investigated.
Conditions in Brazil’s prisons are notoriously harsh, with violent riots often breaking out between rival gangs and factions. Just last week, 57 people were killed during a riot in the state of Pará, 16 of whom were decapitated.
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