Fugitive arrested on Cavan farm faces deportation

A 55-year-old Brazilian national, the subject of a long-running international manhunt, was arrested while working on a Cavan farm earlier this year.

Renivaldo Figueiredo Lima was detained by immigration officers after being found working on a farm in east Cavan under an assumed identity.

He is understood to have lived and worked in the county for several years using undertaking cash-in-hand employment after entering Ireland while on the run from authorities in Brazil, where he was convicted in absentia of raping a minor.

Earlier this year, Interpol issued a Red Notice requesting that police forces across its 190 member countries locate and detain him. The notice was issued on April 7, and Gardaí arrested Lima on April 20 following an anonymous tip-off.

As Ireland does not have an extradition treaty with Brazil, Lima was arrested on immigration-related offences instead. He is currently being held at Dublin’s Cloverhill Prison and his deportation to Brazil is due imminently.

Brazilian media have reported that Lima moved between several locations in Ireland, and under various false identities, including Mayo, Wexford and Cavan, while evading detection.

They also report that his conviction for a 2002 offence became final in 2012 after all avenues of appeal had been exhausted.

Lima is expected to be deported to his home region of Campos Belos in north-eastern Brazil.