Suspected cannibal caught at airport with ‘suspicious meat’

A Brazilian murder suspect — who police believe may have engaged in “cannibal practices” — has been arrested at an airport in Portugal with a suitcase containing “suspicious meat” and bloodstained clothing, officials said.

Begoleã Mendes Fernandes, 26, was taken into custody at Lisbon Airport on Monday after getting off a flight from Amsterdam, where he was suspected of killing 21-year-old Alan Lopes a day earlier.

Portuguese media reported that the pieces of meat that were found inside a plastic bag stuffed into Fernandes’ luggage could be human flesh.

The meat will be analyzed in a laboratory to determine its origin, reported Fox News Digital.

Officials with the Portuguese Borders and Immigration Service initially detained Fernandes on suspicion of carrying forged documents, including an Italian identity card and other paperwork bearing a name different than his own.

“After contact with the authorities of the Netherlands, the country where he resided, it was confirmed that he was wanted on suspicion of committing a crime of murder that occurred on February 26, in Amsterdam, which led the judicial authorities of that country to issue, already yesterday afternoon, a European Arrest Warrant for extradition purposes,” authorities said.

Fernandes drew border officers’ attention because he had a bandage on his right hand. When they opened his suitcase, they found the meat along with bloodstained clothing. 

Portuguese newspaper JN reported that police suspect that Fernandes had engaged in “cannibal practices.”

The 26-year-old, who described himself on Facebook as “2% genius, 98% crazy,” made his initial court appearance in Lisbon earlier this week and will remain in custody pending his extradition to the Netherlands.

Lopes was found dead Sunday night at a house in Amsterdam that he shared with his mother and sister, who were away at the time.

Kamila Lopes, the victim’s sister, told the news site Notícias ao Minuto that Fernandes was homeless and would stay with the family whenever he had nowhere else to go.

Alan Lopes also lent money to the cash-strapped suspect, according to his sister.

In an interview with the Portuguese television channel SIC, Fernandes’ mother, Carla Pimentel, suggested that her son may have killed Lopes in self-defense, reported the Portuguese-language news outlet RFI.

According to Pimentel, Fernandes was having dinner with the victim when Lopes offered him human flesh to eat and also showed him videos about cannibalism. The 21-year-old then allegedly tried to kill Fernandes.

The mom claimed that the meat found in her son’s possession in Lisbon was the same that was offered to him by Lopes, and that her son had kept it as evidence that he planned to hand over to the authorities.