Municipal guards in Itu, São Paulo state, detained a man known in police circles by the nickname “Pitolinha” and described as active in drug trafficking in the city, after he tried to flee an approach on Saturday 7 November 2026.[1] The approach took place on Avenida Caetano Ruggieri, near the CDHU roundabout in the Vila Lucinda neighbourhood of Itu.[1] A Guarda Civil Municipal (GCM) patrol was carrying out overt policing in the area when officers saw the man acting suspiciously with a backpack.[1] As the patrol vehicle came closer he tried to break away from the officers and ran toward a wooded area inside the housing estate.[1] The guards chased him on foot and gave successive orders to stop, which he disobeyed.[1] The flight ended when he lost his balance and fell, and the team restrained and searched him.[1]
A personal search and a check of the backpack he was carrying found illicit substances already broken down and packaged for retail sale.[1] In total the guards seized more than 600 portions of illicit substances.[1] The haul included 172 portions of marijuana.[1] It also included 78 portions of ice, described as a type of cannabis concentrate.[1] A further 48 portions were of dry, described as a hashish variety.[1] The rest of the portions were 280 of cocaine and 30 of crack, which are not cannabis.[1] One mobile phone was also seized with the drugs.[1] g1 reported the same count of portions from the police record.[2] g1’s account, however, attributed the approach to a Military Police team rather than to the municipal guards.[2] TVS+ reported that the man was wearing a beige shirt and carrying a black backpack.[3]
Because of the fall during the escape, the man was taken in custody to a Unidade de Pronto Atendimento (UPA), an emergency care unit, for medical treatment.[1] He was then taken to the city’s Plantão Policial, where the occurrence was registered and the seized material remained held at the disposal of the courts.[1]
