Major arms trafficker arrested in Brazil after prison escape

An international arms trafficker has been arrested in Brazil months after he escaped prison using forged documents.

Joao Filipe Barbieri was arrested at his mother's house near Rio De Janeiro, the BBC reported.

Barbieri, who is the stepson of the gang leader, was arrested in a bust in 2017 that saw a container filled with rifles seized at Rio airport, after arriving from Miami.

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Authorities said the gang smuggled the weapons in from the US to sell them to drug gangs.

Barbieri was sentenced to 27 years in jail, but he managed to sneak out last year after forging an early-release order.

Barbieri had reportedly visited Rio to collect on some debts, but was picked up by police.

His stepfather, Fredrick "Lord of Weapons" Barbieri, was also arrested in 2017, and was sentenced to 13 years in a US jail.