10 fugitives arrested in Brazil police operation at Sao Paulo GP

The fugitives, all of whom were Brazilian, were trying to make their way into the Interlagos circuit for the weekend’s F1 grand prix when they were apprehended by police, according to the Reuters news agency.

Robbery and paedophilia were among the crimes the people were fleeing at the time of their arrest. 

Sao Paulo’s public security department said the operation was part of its ‘The Great Wall of SP’ programme. 

“It was a big win as this was the first time the programme was tested at a major international event," Public Security Secretary Guilherme Derrite said. 

F1 said a sell-out crowd of 267,000 people attended the weekend, up from 236,000 last year. 

Organisers of the race were ruled to have created an “unacceptable situation” by enabling a premature F1 track invasion after Sunday’s grand prix, when cars were still going around.