Stop Yields Drug Fugitive

East Hampton Village police stopped a driver Monday afternoon for talking on his cellphone without a hands-free device, and discovered that he was wanted in Brazil on drug-trafficking charges.

An officer spotted the man, Wesley De Oliveira Costa, 28, of Holtsville, on Main Street near David’s Lane at about 1:30 p.m., pulled over his 2000 Ford van, and found that he had no license. It is the Village Police Department’s policy to arrest anyone caught driving without a license, rather than hand them a ticket to appear in court, as is town police policy.

At Cedar Street headquarters, Mr. De Oliveria Costa was fingerprinted, and police found through Interpol that he was a wanted fugitive in Brazil. Chief Gerard Larsen said the man seemed unaware that there was a warrant for his arrest. Mr. De Oliveria Costa, a citizen of Brazil, was in the area working for a flooring company, Chief Larsen said. 

Police have received little other information, but Chief Larsen said the charges appeared serious, as there was information that Mr. De Oliveria Costa faces up to 30 years in prison. 

The department contacted the United States Department of Justice, which in turn contacted Brazilian authorities on Monday afternoon. As of 1 p.m. Tuesday, the D.O.J. had not heard back. In the meantime, village police contacted the Department of Homeland Security, which ordered that the man be held, and federal officers took him into custody at around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Chief Larsen explained that Mr. De Oliveria Costa would not be arraigned in East Hampton Town Justice Court because the only charges against him here are traffic infractions — unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and driving without a hands-free device.

Had Brazilian police responded more quickly, Mr. De Oliveria Costa could have been charged here as a fugitive from justice, which would have begun an extradition process, the chief explained. “Since the feds are taking him, they will handle that now,” he said.

Chief Larsen said the incident showed once again why fingerprinting drivers who cannot produce a license is a good policy. There have been other examples of its usefulness, he said, though none of this magnitude.