Rio de Janeiro police arrested Danúbia de Souza Rangel, former wife of jailed drug trafficker Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, known as “Nem da Rocinha”, moments after she gave birth to a girl on 5 July at a private maternity hospital in Barra da Tijuca. Detectives from the 72nd precinct had monitored the pregnancy and moved in as soon as the delivery was completed. The officers enforced a warrant issued on 10 June to execute a definitive sentence of nine years and four months in a closed regime for money-laundering, a case dating to 2017. Rangel had been free since January 2024 after serving time for association with drug trafficking and corruption but remained liable for the separate conviction that became final in May. A custody hearing on 7 July upheld the arrest and rejected a defence request for house arrest. Lawyers argued that the newborn, diagnosed with Down syndrome, requires specialised care, and have filed a habeas corpus petition. Until she is discharged, Rangel remains under police guard; afterward she will be held at the Unidade Materno-Infantil in the Gericinó prison complex, where mothers may stay with their infants for up to one year. Nicknamed the “Xerifa da Rocinha” for the influence she wielded while Nem commanded drug sales in the favela, Rangel was first detained in 2014 and re-arrested in 2017. Since leaving prison last year she had promoted herself as a social-media influencer, but investigators said she remained a fugitive once the latest sentence was confirmed. Her case has reignited debate in Brazil over the treatment of incarcerated mothers and the use of hospital arrests.