Military Police officers were tracking a man who had escaped from a prison escort at the Municipal Hospital in Ipatinga on the night of Sunday 8 November 2026.[1] Searching the Cidade Nobre neighbourhood, officers grew suspicious of four men near a house and went to question them.[1][2] A search of the house found a small cannabis plantation.[1]

Police seized eight plants resembling cannabis, a portion of the same herb ready for consumption, one cannabis cigarette, a portion of a substance similar to cocaine and 5 reais in cash.[1][3][2] A 31-year-old man said the plants were his and was arrested for drug trafficking.[1][3][2]

Checking the identities of the others at the house, officers found that a 35-year-old man had an open arrest warrant issued by a court, and he was also detained.[1][3][2] The two detainees and the seized material were taken to the Civil Police station in Ipatinga for the duty police chief to handle.[1] The Military Police did not say why the arrest warrant had been issued or give details of the case behind it.[4] The police record does not say whether the man who escaped from the hospital escort was found during the operation.[4]

The operation began at about 9pm on Sunday 8 November 2026, when officers pursued a man who had fled a penal escort at the Municipal Hospital and approached four men near a house in Cidade Nobre.[3]

The hospital the man escaped from was the Hospital Municipal Eliane Martins in Ipatinga.[2]